Gleaning Ruth: A Biblical Heroine and Her Afterlives

Acknowledgments

xiii • A C K N OW L E D G M E N T S • I would first like to thank James Crenshaw for suggesting to me that I write on a personality of the Old Testament. His support and encouragement, as well as his generous readings of my work, are more than a junior scholar could ever hope to expect from someone so admired. Editor Jim Denton approached his task with a patience that made me wonder if any author ever gets a manuscript in on time. Thanks are owed him and everyone at the University of South Carolina Press who helped this project progress smoothly from proposal to book. Albright College has provided me the precious gift of time through a semesterlong sabbatical (spring 2009) and a semester-long family leave (spring 2010). I hope that this book is ample demonstration that their family-friendly policies help to create and sustain a community of scholars. Happy people simply teach better and write more. My colleagues at Albright also deserve special thanks. I am grateful to the religious studies department for suffering my leaves without complaint, and especially to Bill King for taking on the duties of department chair one more time. The faculty bridge club provided a much-needed weekly respite—wine, cards, and conversation are a wonderful way to end the week. And thanks to those who attend the monthly Scholar Session and Poker Séance for scotch, cigars, and reading a draft of chapter 6. As the book of Ruth links agricultural fertility with human fertility, Gleaning Ruth connects the creative processes of writing and procreation. During my sabbatical spring I wrote the first full draft of this manuscript and also conceived my son. He grew and developed within me as I continued to write and revise. The delivery of the manuscript was delayed by his birth when I realized that I simply could not make my original February 1 deadline when Simon was born January 21. A remarkable amount of this book was written and revised—including this passage— typing with one hand while the other hand held a baby on my lap or to my breast. Consequently it feels appropriate to dedicate this book to Simon Raphael Seesengood , as well as to his father, Robert Paul Seesengood, without whom Simon ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiv would not exist, and Gleaning Ruth would be poorer. He never wavered in his con- fidence that I would be up to the task of writing while undergoing the changes wrought by pregnancy and new motherhood. He was always ready to listen to a new idea, read another section, or ask the right question. In both critique and praise, he is my best and most beloved reader. ...