Tales from the Journey of the Dead: Ten Thousand Years on an American Desert

Acknowledgments

217 Acknowledgments It would have been impossible to complete a project of this scope and duration without the assistance of many individuals, organizations, and foundations. I wish to thank Centrum Arts for a residency that provided uninterrupted time to begin writing this book, and the Ragdale Foundation for a residency that allowed me the solitude to complete it. I am deeply grateful to both institutions for their support. First and foremost among the individuals who have aided me are Virgil Lueth and Lisa Peters, whose generosity, optimistic outlook, and decades-long friendship far exceeds what I can ever o√er in return. My New Mexico research assistant, Tony Freeman, spent countless hours in a number of libraries to locate several items that were otherwise unavailable to me. Without his intelligent assistance, tireless work, and uncomplaining help this book would not have been written. I have been very fortunate to have several kind, generous, hardworking , helpful, and articulate people who provided me with much insight about life on the Jornada. Thomas Waddell patiently answered numerous questions, provided me with documents, books, contacts, and other sources for information, and was helpful and pleasant, despite my constant queries. In addition to providing me with critical information over the course of the creation of this book, Jim Eckles spent a day with me that began at 5 a.m. with a 250-mile circuit of White Sands Missile Range and ended with a delightful evening of pizza and conversation at his home with Jim and his wife, Debbie Edwards. Likewise, Flo Martin, Rowena Baca, Ben and Jane Cain, and Joe Turner opened their homes to me as if I had been kin. Without them there would have been no tales of the Jornada. I am grateful 218 Acknowledgments too for Mollie and Philip Freeman, who, as has been the case for over thirty years, accepted me into their New Mexico home as if I were their son. Without the kindness of Butch Hammack, a fresh set of human bones might well have been added to the Jornada’s artifacts. Bob Eveleth, senior mining engineer of the New Mexico Bureau of Mines, aided me on numerous occasions over the length of the project. Karl Laumbach spent the final hot hours of a Friday patiently answering my many questions about his remarkable research in the Southwest, while Florence Wesner Martin’s cookies, iced tea, and long hours of interviews were invaluable. Dale and Alma Green of Socorro provided important background information on a variety of subjects. Thanks too to Richard Knezel, who stopped working on his tractor and instead spent the coolest working hours of the morning chatting with me about his modern-day homestead cabin on the Jornada; and to Hazel and Wayne Johnson, of Cutter, who served me the finest iced tea in the world while we talked about life on the Jornada. He may not know it, but Dane Liebel provided crucial inspiration for this project by his openheartedness as well as his enthusiasm for the Jornada. I am grateful as well for John Boye’s companionship and enthusiasm while accompanying me to a number of remote sites in southern New Mexico. My assistants Andrew Boye and Ben Boye were an important part of this project. Andrew’s organizational assistance was an invaluable help for this complex and complicated project. More important was his never-faltering encouragement and good humor, which provided much inspiration. Likewise, Ben’s technical help as well as his insightful questions and curiosity often stimulated my thinking and allowed me to see old issues in a new light. As always, without Linda Wacholder this project would never have been completed. W. Clark Whitehorn first suggested this book one day over Mexican food in Lincoln, Nebraska. His initial encouragement and ongoing support for my work are deeply appreciated. I wish also to thank Gary Dunham for his patience and support, and Gretchen Albers for hers. Poet Mike O’Connor and my friends Ted Senecal and Niels Holm provided the context of hope, the atmosphere of mindfulness, and the Acknowledgments 219 philosophical freedom I needed during the project’s critical, earliest hours. Likewise, this book owes its existence to the insight and friendship of master photographer and bodhisattva Steven R. Johnson. In addition to the friendship and help I got from naturalist Dan Perry at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Deputy Refuge Manager Gary Montoya, Mike Oldham, and...