Acknowledgements
Several of these stories appeared in slightly different forms in the following journals: The Fiddlehead, The Notre Dame Review, Exile and The New Quarterly. I want to thank the editors of these publications, especially Kim Jernigan at TNQ, for their support. Dennis Priebe did a wonderful job with the design and typesetting of the collection and the whole team at Biblioasis worked very hard on this book. I received arts grants from The Canada Council and The Nova Scotia Ministry of Tourism and Culture and I gratefully acknowledge these contributions.
Thanks to my family for showing the way along this ‘road we must walk.’ And appreciation, also, to the Garrett, Ryall, Gervais, and McCormack clans. A special, very deep, reservoir of gratitude is saved for my friends: Jason and Jason, Rich, Drew, Mark, Jere, Michel, and Seán. Saint Mary’s University has been a great place to work. My colleagues at the school, especially Brian Bartlett, have been inspirational and our students have taught me a lot about how to read (and maybe even write) a story.
Three people helped me with this collection in ways that merit special recognition. Dan Wells called the book into being and, in all the important ways, Light Lifting is our shared labour. His keen editorial eye saved me on several occasions and he has cared for and about these stories in ways that I can’t ever repay and will never forget. Harold Hoefle read and re-read every word and scribbled and spidered his way across every page. He and I are in it for the long haul and his talent, generosity and brute diligence have already carried me over many miles. My wife, Crystal Garrett, is responsible for most of what is good in here and none of what is bad. Her journalist’s mind cuts always to the core and her gut feelings should always be trusted. The day we met was the luckiest day of my life.
About the Author
Alexander MacLeod was born in Inverness, Cape Breton and raised in Windsor, Ontario. His award-winning stories have appeared in many of the leading Canadian and American journals and have been selected for The Journey Prize Anthology. He holds degrees from the University of Windsor, the University of Notre Dame, and McGill. He currently lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and teaches at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.