Slugfest

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Special thanks to NYPD Det. Marco Conelli; bestselling author and NYC medical examiner Jonathan Hayes; Ed MacFarlane; Margaret Norton; and my fellow volunteers at the Philadelphia International Flower Show, Cheryl Carter, Laura DiPreta; and to all the beekeepers I know. I’ve learned so much from all of you. Thanks for letting me pick your brains.

Many thanks to David Baldeosingh Rotstein for another inventive cover for a book with an unusual title, to my editor, Allison Strobel, for her support and insightful comments, and to my amazing copy editor, Martha Schwartz.

And as always, thanks to Bruce.

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.

—Luther Burbank

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

—H. L. Mencken

One

When I was eight, I was convinced I could disappear. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. It wasn’t as if I saw dead people or thought I could beam myself to another planet. I did it all the time. Grown-ups and teachers would smile and glide past me to torture another poor kid who hadn’t cultivated this valuable skill.

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