Writers of the Black Chicago Renaissance

Acknowledgments

acknoWledgMents A book like this is, of course, the culmination of a great deal of effort by many people. Most important to this book are the subjects themselves, many of whom have waited a long time to receive this kind of critical emphasis and attention, some receiving it only posthumously. To those who labored in segregated vineyards , drawing insufficient pay and inadequate recognition for their efforts, I have endeavored to provide what I could offer to them: the authors of the entries in this volume. To these critics I extend my heartiest thanks for their insights and remarkable writing skills, their commitment to the project, and their patience as it moved through the process of publication. Of course, I felt much better knowing that these critics were aboard to do justice and honor to their subjects, and through that to themselves. It was also my honor to work again with Joan Mary Catapano, who retired well into her wonderful work on this project, and with Director Willis Regier, Acquisitions Editor Daniel Nasset, manuscript editor Jennifer Clark, Marketing Copy editor Joe Peebles, and the excellent copyeditor Nancy Albright, all of whom reminded me how wonderful it is to publish with University of Illinois Press. Manuscript readers Professors William Maxwell and Amritjit Singh were invaluable as manuscript readers who provided thorough commentaries on the entries. Erica DeJong worked with me for a semester as student assistant on the project, doing some valuable work with the manuscript. My colleagues in the department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have been supportive throughout my work on the volume, and I particularly acknowledge the involvement of Professor Jim Smethurst, who was certainly there to listen and advise through all the vicissitudes of this project. I also have valued the support and interest of Professor Lianggong Luo of Central China Normal University, Professor Roy Kedong Liu of Harbin Institute of Technology, and the wonderful students at those universities and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Sincerest gratitude also goes to the Deans of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst: first Lee Edwards, then Joel Martin, viii • acknoWledgMents and finally Julie Hayes, have been remarkably supportive of all my endeavors while this project has been on the burners. Finally, I offer my thanks for all their love and support to my wife Cathy and children—oh, they are 26 and 19, hardly children anymore!—Michelle and Michael for putting up with a bi-polar and obsessive-compulsive dad. On to my next project. Writers Black chicago renaissance of the ...