Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (24 page)

I gratefully acknowledge the help that receiving that prize has been in my life. There is money involved, but what is more lasting is that once you have been given that accolade, no door in the world will fail to open for you at least once. It is a free pass for the rest of your life. I herein thank the members of the Nobel Committee for doing the right thing and giving it to me while I was young enough to enjoy it. It is true, I am a loose cannon on deck, and you were taking a chance that I would disgrace a fine institution, but I think you will not regret what you did.

And thanks to Pam Ingate, my secretary and surfing-dude friend, who has always been devoted and tireless, and a bright, happy place in my life.

I would also like to thank Toni Cosentino, who, after the O.J. trial and years after Cynthia had raised the issue, seconded the motion. Toni suggested that I write a book, and by car phone, on a trip between L.A. and Santa Barbara, she introduced me to her agent friend, Frank Weimann. Frank introduced me to David Fisher, who co-authored the first version of this book.

I began to rewrite my book when I realized that you can’t have somebody else buy your clothes for you unless you are either totally relaxed about what you wear or don’t have your own taste. The same applies to a book about dancing naked anywhere.

Nancy Cosgrove convinced me that I could make this book come from within me. She liked my writing. And then Nancy, the painter I was already falling in love with, became Nancy the editor, who would see me through every page and all the traumas that arise from having an incomplete manuscript that is six months late.

And almost every day Nancy talked with Altie Karper, the managing editor at Pantheon, and Altie began to trust us. Her guidance and faith and patience are very greatly appreciated. Altie and Erroll McDonald, vice president and executive editor at Pantheon, then had to convince everyone else at Random House to trust us also, and I guess it worked. Thanks, Altie. Thanks, Erroll. We finally got it done, and we’re happy with it.

And then Nancy and I got married. The book is done and she has time again to paint.

KARY MULLIS

Kary Mullis was born in North Carolina in 1944. He grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, and attended the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his doctorate in biochemistry in 1973 from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1993 Dr. Mullis was awarded the Nobel Prize and the Japan Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). He lives in Corona del Mar, California, and Anderson Valley, California, with his wife, Nancy.