by Lewis Shiner
Steve Pease, in addition to endless moral support, read the Led Zeppelin section in preliminary draft, fixed the odd bit of tin-eared British dialect, and wrote my favorite line in it. He then dragged Andy Tompkins in to verify some details of the gear, for all of which many thanks to both.
Jim Matzorkis is real, and his beating at the hands of John Bonham, Peter Grant, Richard “Ricardo” Cole, and John Bindon is described in chilling detail in Bill Graham Presents. I used Mick Wall’s Led Zeppelin: When Giants Walked the Earth for additional details about the band. The Led Zeppelin website, ledzeppelin.com, contains a wealth of photos, videos, and eyewitness accounts of the concert. In reality, Judas Priest opened both the Saturday and Sunday shows.
David Menconi was kind enough to loan me a copy of his master’s thesis on the Armadillo World Headquarters, which was not only great reading, but was crammed with terrific insight about progressive country, Austin, and the 1970s. He also provided me with a pre-publication copy of Comin’ Right at Ya, the Ray Benson autobiography that he co-authored, also a thorough delight to read.
For details of the academic jungle, many thanks to John Kessel and Lance Olsen. In addition, John provided Madelyn with the revised title of her dissertation, and Lance furnished me with vivid descriptions of Moscow, Idaho. Margaret Downs-Gamble was endlessly patient in helping me concoct Madelyn’s academic pitfalls, promotions, and publications. El Pueblo Community College is fictional, but my friend Debra Taylor provided crucial details about teaching esl in a similar environment.
For information about climate change and alternative energy, I want to acknowledge the work of Bill McKibben, especially The End of Nature and Eaarth. Jill Engel-Cox generously coached me on solar power and the competing technologies available in 2010.
For background on Mexico’s drug war, I referred to Ioan Grillo’s El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency, as well as many issues of the Mexican news weekly Proceso.
James Gardner, who contributed his vast musical knowledge, his amazing record collection, and his unqualified enthusiasm for this book, did not live to see the end of the first draft. I miss him more than I can say.
My dear friend Eric Rabkin supplied unfailing encouragement, expertise on countless subjects, and the concept of tikkun olam, which snapped into the book like the final piece of a puzzle.
Thanks to the following, who responded to emails or phone calls or both with bits of crucial information: Paula Kamenish, author of Mamas of Dada; Darice Murray-McKay of the San Francisco Public Library; Lea Rude of the San Francisco History Center; Bryan McKinney, Assistant Manager of the Texas/Dallas History and Archive; former St. Mark’s class president Bart Wade; Michael Fulton, owner and manager of the Historic Route 66 Motel; Emily Casey and Wade Lawrence of The Museum at Bethel Woods. Special thanks to David Stevens for legal details on the drug bust. Thanks also to Cash Edwards and Jorma Kaukonen for Woodstock gear info; Mike Autrey, as always, for his faith and friendship; Joe Lansdale for Sirocco’s martial arts; Alden Taylor for inspirational conversations; Barry Ragin for a timely critique of the lyrics to “Already the End”; Jeff Archer Black for support and eagle-eyed proofreading; Arthur Hoffman for too many reasons to name; Dennis “T. T.” Taylor for love and encouragement; and many, many more whom my failing memory has neglected to include here.
Richie Unterberger, Lisa Tuttle, David Stevens, Carol Stevens, Barry Ragin, Eric Rabkin, David Rabkin, Steve Pease, Gary McDonald, Iain Matthews, John Kessel, Marian Henley, John Hamby, Margaret Downs-Gamble, and Richard Butner read the manuscript in various drafts, gently pointed out mistakes, offered excellent suggestions, and gave me much-needed encouragement.
Thanks to Danny Baror for agenting the manuscript and for believing in the book. My US publisher, Bill Schafer, went all out for this one, time and time again. Additional thanks to the rest of the Subterranean crew, especially Yanni Kuznia and Geralyn Lance. In the UK, Head of Zeus awed me with their enthusiasm, with special thanks going out to Nic Cheetham and Madeleine O’Shea.
I have saved the best for last. My partner, Orla Swift, has been sounding board, cheerleader, traveling companion, photographer, nursemaid, and unfailing source of faith in this project since I first conceived of it, and to her go my boundless gratitude and love.
Author the Author
Lewis Shiner was born in 1950 and played in rock bands from high school on. Previous novels include Black & White, the award-winning Glimpses, and the cyberpunk classic Frontera. He’s written about music for the Village Voice, Pulse, Crawdaddy and others. His short fiction has been reprinted in a number of best-of-the-year anthologies, and his latest collection is Heroes and Villains: Three Short Novels and a Fable. He lives in North Carolina.
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