Are Lobsters Ambidextrous? (38 page)

In every Imponderables book, the acknowledgements start with a thanks to my readers. Without your input, I wouldn’t have such a wide range of mysteries to explore, answers to Frustables, criticisms that make the books more interesting and more accurate, and praise that often provides the author inspiration to rise from his stupor and trudge on.

If mail has become the lifeblood of the
Imponderables
series, it has also become the bane of my existence. As always, I am sending a personal reply to any reader who encloses a self-addressed stamped envelope, but I am behind, alarmingly behind, in answering correspondence. When I start writing the manuscript for the next book, my letter output dwindles. Please bear with me as I try to catch up, and be assured that I read and appreciate every word of every letter sent to
Imponderables
.

Is it karma or is it just dumb luck that I have the opportunity to work with such wonderful people? My esteem for my editor, Rick Kot, keeps rising as his voice keeps lowering—I have a recurrent nightmare that he will forsake publishing to sing bass for the Temptations. Sheila Gilooly, Rick’s assistant, may have her soul in the rarefied world of verse, but she has been of immense help in solving my prosaic problems with great skill and charm. Craig Herman was forced to decide between a career in male modeling and publicity; luckily for me, he eschewed the superficial world of glitter. Andrew Malkin may have flown the HarperCollins coop, but his work in booking my last publicity tour was exceptional.

Imponderables
books are produced on an extremely tight deadline, one of the many reasons I’m especially grateful to the production editing/copyediting team that renders my manuscript semicoherent: thank you, Kim Lewis, Maureen Clark, and Janet Byrne. And for her exceptional work on the last two jacket designs, my thanks to Suzanne Noli.

Even the muckety-mucks at HarperCollins have been exceptionally kind and supportive to me, and that starts at the top. Thanks to Bill Shinker, Roz Barrow, Brenda Marsh, Pat Jonas, Zeb Burgess, Karen Mender, Steve Magnuson, Robert Jones, Joe Montebello, Susan Moldow, Clinton Morris, Connie Levinson, Mark Landau, and all my friends in the publicity, special markets, sales, and Harper Audio divisions.

Jim Trupin, the Grand Pooh Bah of literary agents, is a neverending font of curmudgeonly common sense, while Grande Pooh Bette Liz Trupin, on the other hand, is a neverending font of common sense.

Kassie Schwan’s illustrations amaze me with their inventiveness and good humor. This book’s for you!

And thanks to Sherry Spitzer for her invaluable research assistance and dogged determination to root out Imponderability wherever she finds it.

Who do I run to when I can’t moan or vent my insecurities at my publisher (neuroses do not flare only at office hours)? I bother my friends in publishing, of course. Thanks—for the wisdom, as well as the friendship—to Mark Kohut, Susie Russenberger, Barbara Rittenhouse, and James Gleick.

And to my friends and family, who offer both advice about and respite from my work, I thank: Tony Alessandrini; Jesus Arias; Michael Barson; Sherry Barson; Rajat Basu; Ruth Basu; Barbara Bayone; Jeff Bayone; Jean Behrend; Marty Bergen; Brenda Berkman; Cathy Berkman; Sharyn Bishop; Andrew Blees; Carri Blees; Christopher Blees; Jon Blees; Bowling Green State University’s Popular Culture Department; Jerry Braithwaite; Annette Brown; Arvin Brown; Herman Brown; Ernie Capobianco; Joann Carney; Lizzie Carnie; Susie Carney; Janice Carr; Lapt Chan; Mary Clifford; Don Cline; Dorrie Cohen; Alvin Cooperman; Marilyn Cooperman; Judith Dahlman; Paul Dahlman; Shelly de Satnick; Charlie Doherty; Laurel Doherty; Joyce Ebert; Pam Elam; Andrew Elliot; Steve Feinberg; Fred Feldman; Gilda Feldman; Michael Feldman; Phil Feldman; Ron Felton; Kris Fister; Mary Flannery; Linda Frank;
Elizabeth Frenchman; Susan Friedland; Michele Gallery; Chris Geist; Jean Geist; Bonnie Gellas; Richard Gertner; Amy Glass; Bea Gordon; Dan Gordon; Emma Gordon; Ken Gordon; Judy Goulding; Chris Graves; Christal Henner; Lorin Henner; Marilu Henner; Melodie Henner; David Hennes; Paula Hennes; Sheila Hennes; Sophie Hennes; Larry Harold; Carl Hess; Mitchell Hofing; Steve Hofman; Bill Hohauser; Uday Ivatury; Terry Johnson; Sarah Jones; Allen Kahn; Mitch Kahn; Joel Kaplan; Dimi Karras; Maria Katinos; Steve Kaufman; Robin Kay; Stewart Kellerman; Harvey Kleinman; Claire Labine; Randy Ladenheim-Gil; Julie Lasher, Debbie Leitner; Marilyn Levin; Vicky Levy; Rob Lieberman; Jared Lilienstein; Pon Hwa Lin; Adam Lupu; Patti Magee; Rusty Magee; everybody at the Manhattan Bridge Club; Phil Martin; Chris McCann; Jeff McQuain; Julie Mears; Phil Mears; Roberta Melendy; Naz Miah; Carol Miller; Honor Mosher; Barbara Musgrave; Phil Neel; Steve Nellisen; Craig Nelson; Millie North; Milt North; Charlie Nurse; Debbie Nye; Tom O’Brien; Pat O’Conner; Joanna Parker; Jeannie Perkins; Merrill Perlman; Joan Pirkle; Larry Prussin; Joe Rowley; Rose Reiter; Brian Rose; Lorraine Rose; Paul Rosenbaum; Carol Rostad; Tim Rostad; Leslie Rugg; Tom Rugg; Gary Saunders; Joan Saunders; Mike Saunders; Norm Saunders; Laura Schisgall; Cindy Shaha; Patricia Sheinwold; Aaron Silverstein; Kathy Smith; Kurtwood Smith; Susan Sherman Smith; Chris Soule; Kitty Srednicki; Stan Sterenberg; Karen Stoddard; Bill Stranger; Kat Stranger; Anne Swanson; Ed Swanson; Mike Szala; Jim Teuscher; Josephine Teuscher; Laura Tolkow; Albert Tom; Maddy Tyree; Alex Varghese; Carol Vellucci; Dan Vellucci; Hattie Washington; Ron Weinstock; Roy Welland; Dennis Whelan; Devin Whelan; Heide Whelan; Lara Whelan; Jon White; Ann Whitney; Carol Williams; Maggie Wittenburg; Karen Wooldridge; Maureen Wylie; Charlotte Zdrok; Vladimir Zdrok; and Debbie Zuckerberg.

We contacted approximately 1,500 experts, corporations, associations, universities, and foundations seeking information to help solve our mysteries. We don’t have the space to list every
one who responded, but we want to thank all of the generous people whose information led directly to the solution of the Imponderables in this book:

Randy Acorcey, Diversified Electronic Corporation; Jim Amanna, Mobil Oil Corporation; American Cat Association; Harold Amstutz, American Association of Bovine Practitioners; John Anderson, Borden’s Glue; Joe Andrews, Pillsbury Brands; Richard Anthes, National Center for Atmospheric Research; Atlas Casket Company.

David Bahlman, Society of Architectural Historians; Ian Bailey, University of California, Berkeley; Jean Bailey, General Tire; Carol Barfield, United Animal Owners Association; Rick Barongi, San Diego Zoo; Marie Beckey, Perdue Farms; Lynn Beedle, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat; Denton Belk, Crustacean Society; W. J. “Buck” Benison, Southern Ambulance Builders, Inc.; Maynard Benjamin, Envelope Manufacturers Association of America; Randy Bergman, Colgate-Palmolive; Enid Bergstrom,
Dog World
; Barry Berlin, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company; William Berman, Society for Pediatric Research; Kathy Biel-Morgan; Bill Biles, Gestetner Corporation; Peter Black, SUNY; Wallace Blanton; Richard Boon, Roofing Industry Educational Institute; J. Gregg Borchelt, Brick Institute of America; G. Bruce Boyer; Kimberly Boyer, Coca-Cola; Ben Brewster, Colonial Brass Company; Roy Brister, Tyson Food, Inc.; Richard M. Brooks, Stouffer Hotels; Lee Brown, Whitehall Products Ltd.; Don Byczynski, Colonial Carbon Co.

K. L. Campbell; John Carolson, Dixie/Marathon, James River Corporation; Jack Castor, San Francisco Zoo; Marc Chernin, Dwelling Managers, Inc.; Helen Cherry, Cat Fanciers Federation; Chesebrough-Ponds, Inc.; Kathryn Cochran, American Hotel and Motel Association; Roger Coleman, National Food Processors Association; Norma Conley, Pretzel Museum; John Corbett, Clairol, Inc.; James Cramer, American Institute of Architects.

Michael D’Asaro; Robert DeChillo, National Coffee Association of USA; Steve Del Priore, Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of
New York; Diane Demee-Benoit, San Francisco Zoo; Michael DeMent, Hallmark Cards, Inc.; Thomas H. Dent, Cat Fanciers Association; Michael DiBiasi, Becton-Dickinson and Company; Tim Dillon, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Robert J. Dinkin, California State University, Fresno; Brent Dixon, Paper Bag Institute; Richard Dowhan, GTE Products Corporation; Lynn Downey, Levi Strauss & Co.; Joe Doyle; Fred Dunham, Oasis Mobile Homes; William Duval, International Brotherhood of Painters & Allied Trades.

David Eagan, Eagan Associates; Eclair Bake Shoppe; Linda Eggers, Maytag Company; D’Elain Pastries; Raymond Ellis, Hospitality, Lodging and Travel Research; Sherry Enzweiler, Gibson Greetings; Jacob Exler, Human Nutrition Information Service.

Charles Farley, Brick Institute of America; Newton Fassler, Institute of Store Planners; Darryl Felder, University of Louisiana, Lafayette; Carla Fischer, GE Company; Robert Fischer, American Society of Bakery Engineers; Mike Fisher, Besam, Inc.; Hans Fiuczynski, M&M/Mars; Barry Floyd, Philadelphia Fire Code Unit; Edward S. Ford, Grayson Foundation; James B. Ford; Al Fowler, Heyer Company; Matt Fox; Gwendolyn Frost, Cornell Feline Health Center.

Dorothy Garrison, Cooling Towers Institute; Carl Gerster, Mobil Oil Corporation; Lennie Gessler, Professional Bowlers Association of America; Mary Gillespie, Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers; Megan Gillispie, The League of Women Voters; Ellyn Giordano, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame; Paul Godfrey, Water Resources Research Center; William Good, National Roofing Contractors Association; Danielle Gordon, Kraft General Foods Corporation; Hy Greenblatt, Manufacturers of Illumination Products; Steve Gregg, Coffee Development Group; Mark Grunwald, Philadelphia Zoo.

Robert Habel, Cornell University; Daniel Halaburda, Panasonic Industrial Company; Dianna Hales; John Hall, American Bankers Association; John Haller, Robert Talbott Company; John Hallett, Desert Research Institute; E. E. Halmos, Construc
tion Writers Association; Ed Hansen, American Association of Zoo Keepers; Megaera Harris, Office of the Postmaster General; John Hassett, International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association; Sylvia Hauser,
Dog World
; Jeanette Hayhurst; Donald Hazlett, Zippo Manufacturing Company; George Headrick, Construction Industry Manufacturers Association; David J. Hensing, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; Jack Herschlag, National Association of Men’s Sportswear Buyers; Bill Heyer, Heyer Company; Shari Hiller, Sherwin-Williams Company; Myron Hinrichs, Hasti Friends of the Elephant; Bruce Hisley, National Fire Academy; Sue Holiday, American Greetings; David Hopper, American Academy of Somnology; Tom Horan, American Irish Historical Society; Joe Horrigan, Professional Football Hall of Fame; Meredith Hughes, Potato Museum; Irv Hyatt.

Idaho Potato Commission.

Simon S. Jackel; Rand Jerris, United States Golf Association; William P. Jollie, American Association of Anatomists; Caroline Jones, Better Sleep Council; Chris Jones, Pepsi-Cola Company; Sally Jones, USDA; William Jones, Zippo Manufacturing Company.

Burton Kallman, National Nutritional Foods Association; Jack Katz, SUNY Buffalo Speech and Hearing Clinic; Leon Katz, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Kendell Keith, National Grain and Feed Association; Bruce Kershner; Donald Kieffer, National Hay Association; Sally Kinne, Poodle Club of America; Rodger Koppa, Texas Transportation Institute; Steve Korker, United States Postal System; Judith Kraus, FDA; Lucille Kubichek; Anita Kuemmel, Soap and Detergent Association; Karen Kuzsel,
Middle Eastern Dancer
; Linda Kwong, Bic Pen Corporation.

Richard Landesman, University of Vermont; Fred Lanting; Thomas Laronge, Thomas M. Laronge, Inc.; Thomas A. Lehmann, American Institute of Baking; George Lemke, International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades; Joe Lesniak, Door and Hardware Manufacturing Institute; Edna Leurck, Procter & Gamble; Victor Liebe, American Traffic Safety Ser
vices Association; Judith Lindley, Calico Cat Registry International; Kick Lorenz, Gibson Greetings; Sally Lorette, Oakland Athletics; Kevin Lowery, Campbell Soup Company; Timothy Lynch, Kenneth Lynch & Sons.

Jane Macdonald-James, International Jelly and Preserve Association and Association for Dressings & Sauces; David Maier, Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology; Kari Anne Maino, Best Foods Baking Group; Irene Malbin, Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association; Marlene Marchut, M&M/Mars; Joanne Marshall, Campbell Soup Company; Nancy Martin, Association of Field Ornithologists; Keith Marvin; Karen Mason, Recreational Vehicle Industry Association; Joe Mastrullo, Procter & Gamble; Doug Matyka, Georgia-Pacific Corporation; Susan Mauro, Pepsi-Cola Company; S. Michael Mazva, Eveready Battery Co.; Linda McCashion, the Potato Board; James P. MaCauley, International Association of Holiday Inns; James P. McCulley, Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology; Kay McKeown; Harry Medved, Screen Actors Guild; Barbara Meyer, Hallmark Cards, Inc.; Jim Meyer, United States Postal Service; Craig Michelson, Pfizer, Inc.; Bill Middlebrook, North American Philips Lighting Corporation; Mary D. Midkiff, American Horse Council; Mark Miller, American Bowling Congress; Stephen Miller, American Optometric Association; Steven Mintz; J. Robert Moody, GE Lighting Business Group; David Moore, Virginia Tech University; E. R. Moore; Randy Morgan, Cincinnati Insectarium; Marilyn Myers, Norelco Consumer Products.

Rosetta Newsome, Institute of Food Technologists; Irene Norman, Goldstein’s Funeral Directors, Inc.; Jill Novack, Levi Strauss & Co.

Norman Owen, American International Electric, Inc.; Jane Owens, Western Trailer Park.

Andy Palatka, Business Forms Management Association; Rich Palin, Loctite Corporation; Joseph Pash, Somerset Technologies, Inc.; Wayne Pearson, Plastics Recycling Foundation; Philadelphia Zoo; Susan Pistilli, International Council of Shopping Centers; John A. Pitcher, Hardwood Research Council;
Ron Pominville, AMF Bowling Company; Barbara Preston, Association for Dressings and Sauces; Roy Preston, United States Postal System; Robert C. Probasco; Larry Prussin; Nancy Purtill, UCLA.

Howard Raether, National Funeral Directors Association; Jerry Rafats, National Agriculture Library; Lorraine Ramig, Denver Center for Performing Arts Voice Research Laboratory; Jean C. Raney, American Wool Council; Ginger Rawe, Kroger Company; Oakley Ray, American Feed Industry Association; Kelly Redmond, Western Regional Climate Center; Nan Redmond, Kraft General Foods; Richard Reynells, American Poultry Historical Society; Jim Richards, Cornell Feline Health Center; Chris Rieck, American Banking Association; Nancy Rivera, Greeting Cards Association; Caroline Robicsek, National Association for Plastic Container Recycling; Robin Roche, San Francisco Zoological Society; John Rockwell, National Center for State Courts; John R. Rodenburg, Federated Funeral Directors of America; Robert R. Rofen, Aquatic Research Institute; Alan Rooscroft, San Diego Wild Animal Park; Janet Rosati, Fruit of the Loom; Phyllis Rosenthal, NutraSweet; Kate Ruddon, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.