IN EVERYTHING I do I try to display the same integrity, intelligence, and good humor that the rest of my family shows in every aspect of their lives. If any of those qualities are reflected in this work, it is because I have had the six best role models possible. This book began as a dissertation, and that I finished the dissertation at all was due in large part to my brother, Stephen Gregg, and my n'lother, Marilyn Gregg. My mother never gave any indication that she had anything better to do

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... an to listen to me fret, often over the course of several phone calls in a single day, about deadlines and chapter organization and overdue library books. She teased me about my worries when I needed teasing and comforted me when I needed sympathy. My brother flew out to stay with me during my last week of writing, read every word of every chapter, and, after tanking us both full of double espressos, edited without mercy. He met me at the door several times with his jacket zipped up over his face in order to appear headless. He would tell me that he had been trying to read the garbled jargon I had written, and, unfortunately, his head had exploded. Lee Salsburg and Michael Richards were also crucial to completion of the dissertation. Their love and friendship kept me joyful and optimistic.