● Mack Truslow, an old friend on whom I cruelly inflicted page after page of rough drafts.
● David Fay Smith, a writer/computer expert who was the technical editor and who himself is the author of A Computer Dictionary for Kids and Other Beginners (Ballantine, $9.95).
● Don Carrol, the cover artist.
● Robert B. Wyatt, editor-in-chief of Ballantine Books, who had the imagination and courage to make this a mass-market paperback.
● Richard McCoy, his assistant.
● Frank Lavena, the copyeditor.
● Pat Ehresmann of the Random House production staff, who is an innovator in the spirit of this book.
● Ruth Aley, a legendary literary agent whom writers have been thanking for decades—perhaps beginning with Irving Stone.
● Berenice Hoffman, her partner on this project. Shopping for a computer while I was writing The Silicon Jungle, she was a perfect test reader.
In addition I’ll thank the Fairfax County Public Library System, especially the Fairfax City branch’s business room. Thanks also to the Martha Washington, George Mason, and Sherwood branches. (Computerized databases will never do away with first-rate librarians.)