Gilmore - Theater in a crowded fire ritual and spirituality at Burning Man

As solitary a process as writing often is, this book could not have been created without an extensive community to support it. First and foremost, I wish to thank the global community of Burning Man participants, without whom this project would quite obviously not have been possible. I am especially grateful to each of the hundreds of Burners who participated in my research by giving the gift of their time in interviews, conversations, or filling out the on-line survey I conducted in July 2004.

A number of Burning Man staff members were very helpful in facilitating data collection, fact checking, and obtaining permission to produce the DVD that accompanies this text, especially Andie (Actiongrl) Grace and Jess (The Nurse) Bobier. Special thanks are also due to (Maid) Marian Goodell, whounbeknownst to either of us at the timehelped to inspire much of the work that follows in these pages when she invited me to join the fledgling Burning Man Media Team in 1998, thus deepening my involvement in and commitment to this community. Finally, I am indebted to Burning Mans founder and ongoing executive director, Larry Harvey, for his time, invaluable insights, and inspiration.

As will become apparent in the pages that follow, I am embedded in a rich and colorful community of Burners with whom I have camped at the event over the years. Thus I should like to thank all the members of the BLD Village for providing a welcome place to call home in Black Rock City, especially Patrice (Chef Juke) Mackey. As core organizers and founders of the BLD for many years, Eric (Frog) Pouyoul and Rachel Ruster are to be commended for their patience and service to the greater community. A special debt of gratitude is also due to Craig (Newt) Lauxman for taking me to my first Burning Man in 1996. James Marshall provided an invaluable service in helping me to configure the more difficult technical components of my on-line survey. Lisa Hoffman generously granted permission to reproduce her original artwork (chart of Black Rock City). Other nods of appreciation are due to Jeff Anderson, Yoni Ayeni, Amacker Bullwinkle, Bridget Connelly, Felix Baum, Jennifer Baum, Jeanie Bier, Kathleen Craig, Margot Duane, Will Francis, Mike Fusello, Katrina Glerum, Dennis Hescox, Jennifer Hult, Jessica Spurling, John Spurling, Candace Locklear, Blair Miller, Yu-Shen Ng, Argyre Patras, Kate Shaw, Shin, Hillary Sommers, Tim Spencer, Kayte Stasny Kelly, Dawn Stott, Dan Terdiman, Jan Voss, Michael Urashka, Alx Utterman, and Michael Wolf. I am also grateful to friends and colleagues who provided helpful feedback on portions this manuscript, including Jonathan Korman, Niki Whiting, and Ben Zeller.

Critical intellectual and financial support was provided by the Media, Religion, and Culture Fellowship program of the University of Colorado School of Journalism. I am especially grateful to Stewart Hoover, Lynn Schofield Clark, and Diane Alters for instituting and administering this program, and to Ronald L. Grimes, who participated in one of the seminar discussions held in conjunction with this program, for his singularly insightful and helpful grilling. The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) also provided generous financial support through its Newhall Fellowship Program, as did the Association for the Sociology of Religion, which granted a Fichter Research Award in partial support of fieldwork expenses.

Within my camp at Burning Man, I have been joined by a number of other academics throughout the years who, in becoming part of my ethnographic landscape, came to indelibly shape many of the directions this work would take through sharing their insights and analyses of the event over many a dusty cup of coffee. First and foremost among these compatriots has been Mark Van Proyen, of the San Francisco Art Institute, with whom I was privileged to coedit a collection of essays titled After-Burn: Reflections on Burning Man. Mark has been a great colleague, friend, and mentor dating to my first years on the playa, and much of the ultimate success of this project is due to his early faith in my work. Patrick Gavin Duffy also deserves a nod for organizing the first panel of academics to present a session on Burning Man at the conference Community and the Environment, held at the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1997, in which I was privileged to participate. D. S. Black was likewise an early intellectual colleague who helped to inspire me to write about this event. I am very fortunate to have been joined by other colleagues who became campmates over the years in Black Rock City, in particular, Rob Kozinets (York University), John Sherry (University of Notre Dame), Graham St John (University of Queensland), Sarah Pike (California State University, Chico), Adrian Ivakhiv (University of Vermont), and Grant Potts (Austin Community College).

Pike also served as the outside reader for my Ph.D. dissertation, which brings me naturally to extending my deep gratitude to each of my committee members and mentors whose support and critical insights became so central to this work. My adviser, Ibrahim Farajaje, stood steadfastly by my side throughout my years at the GTU and was an inspirational model of creativity, difference, and innovation; without his support this project almost certainly would not have come to be. From the first day I walked into his office, he shared his unbridled enthusiasm for my work, and the knowledge of his abiding faith in my scholarly abilities kept me going at many a frustrating moment. Clare Fischers close mentoring and support over the years was likewise indispensable to my success; her consistently careful reading of my work and critical feedback were invaluable. Jerome Baggett was also an important critical reader and enthusiastic champion of this work. Finally, Sarah Pike has provided immeasurable professional support and encouragement far beyond her role as outside reader for my dissertation.