One Car Caravan - On the Road with the 2004 Democrats Before America Tunes In

by Walter Shapiro

  I also want to thank Meryl's parents, Adelle and David Gor­don, for their devoted support to my writing. History should also note that they were probably the first readers to buy an advance copy of this book from amazon.com. Jesse and Nate Gordon have provided a welcome cheering section from the trendy, cross-river confines of Brooklyn.

  Every elder brother can understand how much I owe to my sister, Amy Shapiro, who shares my enthusiasm for politics. At so many times during my writing marathon she offered welcome praise and sympathetic understanding of the pressures that I faced. My father, Salem Shapiro, who shares the dedication page with Meryl, was my other target audience and it is hard to find words to express my pleasure at hearing his single word, "Wow!" after reading the manuscript. While I realize that this may not have been a totally objective review, I cannot think of one that mattered more to this author.

  My only regret as I come to this final paragraph is that my mother, Edith Shapiro, did not live to see this day. My love of pol­itics and my love of words are all her handiwork. (She would par­ticularly appreciate the two William Wordsworth references in this book.) I vividly remember accompanying her to Hartford to watch her play a spear-carrier role as a delegate to the 1962 Demo­cratic state convention. So many national conventions, starting in 1956 with the second-ballot vice-presidential battle between John Kennedy and Estes Kefauver, I viewed on the sofa by her side. Even though she regarded The Making of the President 1960 as a tragedy since Adlai Stevenson was not nominated, she put that life-changing volume in my hands. And the rest is history.

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