Acknowledgments

When I set out to write Identicality, I thought it would be easy. How’s that for nuts. It turned out that there was so much I didn’t know enough about. So I started by reaching out to people I know and then went on to others well beyond my sphere of acquaintance. I needed to know about the law and about lawyers, about the organization of businesses and about startups. Then there was aerodynamics, aviation, physics, biology, computer science and medicine. How does medical research work and what goes on in hospital emergency rooms, police departments and government agencies? As I sought answers to my endless questions, I found a bounty of enthusiasm from so many wonderful and generous people.

Here’s a short list in alphabetical order that makes mention of a few people who were especially helpful in educating me about writing and about content both technical and otherwise.

Jay Goldman is a physician working in emergency services for Kaiser Permanente who helped me understand medical research, hospital administration and emergency medical care.

Lori Conser is my project manager at Wheatmark. She guided me through the publishing process keeping me on track and constantly providing me with ideas, insights and critiques.

Andrew Hoy, the founder of Affinity Aviation, is an extraordinary corporate jet pilot who made it possible for me to introduce some realism to the flight emergency.

Ann Jensen, a voracious reader and a retired librarian from UC Berkeley, provided the enthusiasm and encouragement that propelled my earliest efforts.

Dara Pincas is incredible. She’s a Vice President and head of Healthcare Law at Genentech who took time to provide me with essential insight that enabled me to capture the complicated relationship between Adam Braudy and Shari Williams.

Maxim Shusteff is a scientist’s scientist. He’s a group leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Okay, so my grasp of science needed a little grounding. Maxim, please accept my apology if my fiction has spun too far off the rails.

H. William Taeusch, since his retirement as professor of neonatology at the University of California in San Francisco, has gone on to become a very talented writer and is the author of Baby Doe. Check it out. It’s a great read. He offered lots of encouragement, was a careful critic of my writing and was a source of much needed knowledge about writing, publishing and medical practice.

Monica Wesolowska is a writer and an incredible editor. She tried her best to teach me how to write. I wish I had paid closer attention.

Hilary Zaid is an editor, and a writer too, who offered much needed assistance. I didn’t implement all that she suggested. So honestly, any shortcomings are all my own.

But in addition to these few, I want to extend my utmost gratitude to so many others too. You, my beta readers, were of enormous assistance. You were careful readers and were willing to be frank about changes, both additions and deletions, which have made Identicality better. You found all kinds of faults—some literary, some logical inconsistencies and others as well. Thanks to all of you. This is not a work that I could have done alone. I needed you all. I am forever in your debt. And please forgive me if in error I have lost sight of anyone not properly acknowledged.

Vicki Bagrowski, Sophia and Boris Burshteyn, Nancy Cahners, Patrick and Mila Feigelson, Fred Gans, Hank Hanig, David and Vera Hartford, Joanne Jagoda, Joe Jensen, Carrie Andrea Koppelman, Ed Kriete, Paul Panish, Jerry and Nancy Rauch, Ulli Rotzscher, Paul Schwartz, Sheldon Whitten-Vile, Fred and Christine Zhang.

But of all my supporters one stands out like no other. My wife, Phyllis, offered her endless enthusiasm, relentless patience and critical judgment, all of which were ingredients without which this book would not be possible.