for Jeri, Jamie, and Stephanie,
with love,
and
for my mother,
Maxine Elaine Willis,
and belated thanks
for teaching me to love reading
and for many games of backyard catch
in Mulvane, Kansas,
and
in memory of my dad,
Lee O. Bishop (1920-1989)
who took me out to see the Memphis Chicks,
and who half-expected me
(I think)
to play shortstop in the bigs