Freud in Oz: At the Intersections of Psychoanalysis and Children’s Literature

Acknowledgments

207 I am grateful to the many people who helped make this book a reality. Top billing goes to my dreamy partner Martin Brooks Smith, whose love is deeply sustaining. Much gratitude also to Carolyn, Allison, Dylan, Austin, Jason, Rosie, and Lou, for welcoming me into the family . My parents, Byron and Doris, gave me ridiculous amounts of support along the way and remain my greatest cheerleaders. Thank you. Love and thanks also to my wonderful sister Kathryn and brother-inlaw Lyn. I should also credit Kathryn and her friends Stephanie and Ellyn for showing me the way to the Boathouse (long since renamed but, as Robby reminds us, retaining still the nautical theme). Freud in Oz was supported by sabbatical and research leaves, and I thank the English Department and the Dean’s Office at the University of Florida for crucial support. I have wonderfully generous and smart colleagues from whom I continue to learn. Special gratitude to friends and former chairs John Leavey and Pamela Gilbert, who have guided my development with humor and grace. John Cech, Tace Hedrick, and Anastasia Ulanowicz offered useful feedback on various chapters. Peter Rudnytsky is my mentor in psychoanalysis, and this book reflects some of the lessons I’ve learned from his work. The book would probably still be languishing were it not for the care and feeding of Barbara Mennel and Jodi Schorb. Marsha Bryant helped me balance work with life Acknowledgments 208 acknowledgments by introducing me to such pleasures as Ebony Fashion Fair and the Gainesville Roller Rebels. I’ve had many a stimulating conversation with Leah Rosenberg over dinner and dog walking. Bob and Grace Thomson are model hosts and collaborators. Susan Hegeman and Phil Wegner welcomed me into the fold from the start; I still think of them as my den parents. Sid Dobrin collaborated with me on the anthology Wild Things: Children’s Culture and Ecocriticism and inspires me with his unfailing energy. I’ve learned a lot from Malini Schueller, who has mad Ping-Pong skills. Kim Emery and Kathryn Baker helped me get to Gainesville and still do much to make it a wonderful place. Other colleagues who have supported me include Apollo Amoko, Don Ault, Roger Beebe, Richard Burt, Jill Ciment, Ira Clark, Andy Gordon, Terry Harpold, Sid Homan, Brandy Kershner, David Leavitt, David Leverenz, John Murchek, Scott Nygren, Amy Ongiri, Judith Page, the late Jim Paxson, Raúl Sánchez, Stephanie Smith, Chris Snodgrass, Maureen Turim, and Ed White. Extra gratitude to Tace and Pamela for taking such good care of me. Thanks also to our intrepid office staff: Carla Blount, Melissa Davis, Jan Moore, Jeri White, and Kathy Williams. Among the many fabulous graduate student colleagues with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working, I want especially to acknowledge Joel Adams, Poushali Bhadury, Ramona Caponegro, Sophie Croisy, Eric Doise, Lisa Dusenberry, Rebekah Fitzsimmons, Emily Garcia, Marilisa JimenezGarcia,CortneyGrubbs,DeniseGuidry,CariKeebaugh,Michele Lee, Jaimy Mann, Cathlena Martin, Melissa Mellon, Emily Murphy, Robin Nuzum, Todd Reynolds, Nishant Shahani, Joanna Shearer, Horacio Sierra, Randi Marie Smith, Aaron Talbot, and Andrea Wood. Megan Norcia, Kevin Shortsleeve, Catherine Tosenberger, and Eric L. Tribunella are also University of Florida grads and now inspiring colleagues in children’s literature. Beyond my department, I am grateful to Rita Smith, former curator of the Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature, for backstage tours, seminar assistance, picturebook marathons, and of course the Newbery/Caldecott awards banquet. Thanks also to Efraín Barradas, Kendal Broad, Franz Epting, Maria Rogal, and Danaya Wright. Chris McCarty and Alicia Turner have made life in Gainesville extra special with road trips, fancy meals, and True Blood. Despite his resistance to Facebook, Chris is my tutor in social networks and all things home im- acknowledgments 209 provement. Hats off also to Scott Richards and Gregg and Jean-Marie Ritter. Everyone needs a professor friend in Macon, Georgia, and mine is Patrick Brennan. Hugs to Joseba Gabilondo, theorist, tree assassin, Universal Boyfriend. And to Nancy Reismann, for all the lovely letters . Susan Dauer continues to astound with her flexible sense of fun. Who else would join me at the Holy Land Experience? From Robby Sulcer I have learned the joy of chasing ducks into the wrong ponds. Mary Lenard and Kay Harris remain steadfast friends, as does Laura George, my favorite Romanticist. Karin Westman and Phil Nel make outstanding interlocutors, and Phil...