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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Over the twenty years that I have been following the vampire trail in New England, I have received the kind assistance of many individuals and organizations. I would like to thank the interns who worked with me and the Rhode Island Folklife Project: Joe Carroll, James Clements, Dawn Dove, and Brian Hokeness. Mary-Lou Haas Fidrych was myAdministrative Assistant for many years; she was an enormous help as well as a great companion on legend trips. lowe a debt of gratitude to all those whom I interviewed for this project; I will always treasure the generosity and hospitality ofEverett Peck and the late Margery Matthews. Thanks to Joe Uscio, whose research into Rhode Island's supernatural realm helped me appreciate the importance of genealogy. Many scholars· and colleagues located and passed along references that opened new trails, includingJane Beck, Nick Bellantoni, Mary Deveau, Ruth Herndon, Robert Mathiesen, William Simmons, Paul Sledzik, and John Sterling. Without exception, the staff of the many institutions that I visited in my search for documentation were helpful and friendly. I would especially like to thank the following:The Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission; The Rhode Island Historical Society Library; John Hay Library at Brown University; Rare Books and Special Collections Department of the Countway Library of Medicine; Archives of the City of Boston; and the Massachusetts State Library. Frank Iacono, ofthe Rhode Island Department ofState Library Services, always went beyond the call ofduty to locate obscure and scarce materials. XXX1X Food for the Dead I would like to acknowledge the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, under whose funding the fieldwork and research for this project was begun. The manuscript for this book was prepared using Nota Bene's Scholar's Workstation 5.5, a seamless suite of software for writing , research, and managing bibliographies and notes. Thanks, Nota Bene, for facilitating an often daunting task. My wife, Carole 0. Bell, has given generously of everything it's possible to give, from encouragement to ideas to editing. I am especially indebted to my editor, Philip Turner, who never gave up on this project. xl ...

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