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• acknowledgments To my father, I extend my sincere gratitude, love, and great admiration for sharing his incredible life with me and for recognizing that his youngest son is a dreamer. My soul-felt gratitude to my mother for her love and strength throughout the years and to my brother René Jr., my dear sisters Fanny and Martha, and all my nieces and nephews. My father and I extend our immense appreciation to Sandra Spanier for coming into our lives and being such a great friend to us and also the Villarreal family in Cuba. Also, many thanks to the following individuals for their wonderful friendship and support throughout this project: Larry Grimes, DeWitt Sage, John Mullholland, Michael Smith, Jack Thornton, Andrea Herrera O’Reilly, Lourdes Gil, Iraida Iturralde, Maritza Bolaños, Gladys Rodríguez Ferrero, and Ada Rosa Alfonso Rosales. We will forever be grateful to my agent, Mary Yost, who always kept the faith. We extend our gratitude, love, and admiration to Joanna Hildebrand Craig, the best editor anyone could ever hope for. She believed in this project from the start, providing me with great insightful comments and suggestions in order to make sure this was the best, most honest book it could be. Finally, I must thank my beautiful and adventurous wife, Rita, for her neverending love and support and for sharing the madness with me for all these wonderful years. Raúl Villarreal x ...

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