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Acknowledgments
- University of Nebraska Press
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ix Acknowledgments \_hij"_j^Wdam[ijc_dij[hYebb[][ for a sabbatical leave and a Gore Summer Research Grant; I also thank the Houghton Library at Harvard University for awarding me the William Dean Howells Fellowship in American Literature in (&&+ to complete archival work on this book. Bay James graciously granted me permission to use archival unpublished James family documents; she also organized the memorable visit to Chocorua , New Hampshire, in (&&+, so that I could visit Alice’s summer home. Alice H. G. James’s grandson Michael James was an invaluable help; getting to know him was the best part of this project. Other James family members, including Henry James IV, Robertson James, Sara James-Rileau , and John Hunter Gray, generously shared their knowledge of family history. Roberta Sheehan kindly allowed me access to the Alice Howe Gibbens Collection of the late William James III of Santa Fe, documents that made the book possible. Alfred Habegger encouraged me to pursue this project and helped me plan the book’s organization, suggesting a chronological organization. He proffered excellent advice on writing biography based on his work on Henry James Sr. and Emily Dickinson. Conversations with Eugene Taylor, Randall Albright, and Roberta Sheehan gave me direction for my study of William James’s work. Sheldon Novick generously shared x WYademb[Z]c[dji his extensive knowledge of the James family as well as clear instructions for biographers gleaned from his award-winning biography of Oliver Wendell Holmes and his two-volume biography of Henry James. I am grateful for his invaluable advice on final drafts of this manuscript and for sending me a copy of the manuscript of his book >[dho@Wc[i0J^[ CWjkh[CWij[h. I benefited from the work of previous William James biographers , particularly that of Linda Simon and Robert Richardson, and from the many published books on the James family that are cited in the notes. I am grateful to Eliot House for allowing me to stay in the F. O. Matthiessen Room during my visits to the Houghton Library. I thank house master Lino Pertile, house manager Sue Weltman, and house superintendent Francisco Medieros for their wonderful hospitality. F. O. Matthiessen wrote the first book on the James family, and I am indebted to his groundbreaking scholarship on the family group. I am indebted to historians Susan Cottler of Westminster College; Peter Drummey and staff at the Massachusetts Historical Society; Dr. Harold Worthley of the Congregational Library; Debra Sullivan, Phillip Lawson Smith, Bill Tormey, and members of the Weymouth Historical Society ; Doris Baumgartner of the Aiken Historical Society; Dave Lambert at the Massachusetts Historical Genealogical Society; staff at the National Archives; staff at the Harvard Archive; staff at the American Jewish Archives ; and Kelly Gingras at the Hill-Stead Museum. I also thank Bill Stoneman, Leslie Morris, Susan Halpert, Denis Beach, Rachel Howarth, Thomas Ford, and other staff at the Houghton Library; David Hales, Diane Raines, Hildegarde Benham, Eric Inouye, and Jessica Whetman at Giovale Library, Westminster College; Richard Virr at Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University, and Eric Savoy, who helped me search the Leon Edel Collection; staff at the Bancroft Library , University of California, Berkeley; Paul Walker, Liz Murphy, and Joanne Lamotte at Tufts Library, Weymouth, Massachusetts; staff at the bZi Genealogical Library; staff at the University of Utah Western Collection archives; and staff at the Boston Public Library. Julie Jensen and Michael Dorrell of the Salt Lake Acting Company invited me to attend playwriting workshops, where I learned methods of character development. I thank writer Wayne Johnson for letting me [34.230.84.106] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 10:59 GMT) WYademb[Z]c[dji xi audit his screenplay-writing class; his sound teaching helped me develop a sense of narrative. I thank Jim McLeod, present owner of Alice’s childhood home, who gave me extensive information about her Weymouth house; Sharon Wick for allowing me to see her home, once the Porter home, at /** Chestnut Street, San Francisco, and for sharing historical information about that house; and Greta Peterson for information about living at /+ Irving Street in the '/-&s. I had more than competent help from my research assistants, who researched the historical background for Alice’s life: Nathaniel Garrabrandt, Arien McOmber, and Jennifer McLing Ruff. Readers at various stages of the manuscript include Peter Walker, Roberta Sheehan, Michael James, Diane Lefer, Natasha Sajé, Jeannine Heil, Mary Jane Ongley, Phyllis Whitfield , Susan Jones, Barbara Martz, Jeff Nichols, Richard Badenhousen, Galena Eduardova, Teresa Knight...