Small Town

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Once again, it’s my great pleasure to thank the Ragdale Foundation, of Lake Forest, Illinois, where this book was written.

Between the time my last book was published and this one completed, I lost three dear old friends, and list them now in the order of their passing: Dave Van Ronk, Jimmy Armstrong, and John B. Keane, to whom Hope to Die was dedicated. One of my early books was dedicated to Dave. I never got around to dedicating one to Jimmy. I miss them all.

Earlier, I lost my mother, who came to the end of a good long life two weeks and two days after the twin towers fell. Like my wife and daughters, she read each of my books in manuscript. Thus she had a chance to read Hope to Die, although she died before it was published. This book, then, is the first she won’t get to read.

On September 11, 2001, sunrise came at 6:33 A.M. The forecast called for clear skies and a beautiful day.

At 8:45 A.M., American Airlines Flight 11, bound from Boston to Los Angeles, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

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