A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I never thought that I would be alive to this day, much less that I would write a book. During this second lifetime of mine, a lot of remarkable individuals have given meaning to my life, opened their hearts and doors to me, supported and believed in me and all my undertakings. Without their presence, this book wouldn’t have been possible. My immense gratitude to my family: my mother, Laura Simms, for her tireless work to bring me here, for her love and advice, for providing me a home when I had none, and for allowing me to rest and enjoy the last moments of what was left of my childhood; my aunts, Heather Greer, Fran Silverberg, and Shantha Bloemen, for your good listening, kind hearts, generosity, love, emotional support, all the meaningful moments, and everything; my sister, Erica Henegen, for your trust, honesty, and love, and for all those insightful long nights we spent grappling with the reasons for our existence; and Bernard Matambo, my brother, for your friendship and intelligence, for our common dreams and unremitting strength to carry on and enjoy every moment of our lives, and for making all those long nights at the library meaningful and unforgettable. Thanks, Chale. My cousin Aminata and my childhood friend Mohamed, I am so very happy to have you back in my life and indebted to you for bringing those happy memories of a past that you and I share.

I am indebted to Marge Scheuer and the entire Scheuer family for your ceaseless financial support, which enabled me to complete my studies and accomplish things beyond my dreams. Thank you so much. My gratitude to everyone at the Blue Ridge and Four Oaks Foundations, to Joseph Cotton and Tracey for looking after me as your little brother and setting me straight, to Mary Sobel for checking in and making sure all is well, and to Lisa, for everything.

I am very grateful to a lot of professors at Oberlin College. Professor Laurie McMillin gave me the confidence I needed to start writing seriously. I am indebted to Professor Dan Chaon for his patience, tutelage, confidence, honesty, friendship, and support in making this book a reality. Thank you, Dan, you taught me well and made sure that I completed this book. My gratitude to Professor Sylvia Watanabe, for all your support, friendship, and good counsel, and for your unceasing quest to enrich my creative life; and to Professors Yakubu Saaka and Ben Schiff, for your good advice, always.

My dear friends Paul Fogel and Yvette Chalom: thank you for your unceasing care for my well-being, for your advice, for opening your house to me during the writing of this book, and for being two of my early readers—your comments helped tremendously to shape this work. I am very grateful for everything. Thank you, Priscilla Hayner, Jo Becker, and Pam Bruns, for your encouragement, friendship, and insights on the earlier drafts.

I am very lucky to have Ira Silverberg as my agent. Thank you for all your insightful advice, your friendship, and your patience with explaining the workings of the publishing world. Without you I would have gotten easily frustrated. My editor, Sarah Crichton, thank you so very much for all your hard work. I am grateful for your honesty, your careful and compassionate treatment of this deeply personal and emotionally charged material, and all the gossip before and after each meeting that helped to lighten things. I love working with you and I learned so much from this process. Thank you to Rose Lichter-Marck for following up and making sure I didn’t procrastinate, and my gratitude to everyone at Farrar, Straus and Giroux for all your hard work and friendship.

My friends Melvin Jimenez, Matt Moore, Lauren Hyman, and Marielle Ramsay, thanks for your friendship, for keeping in touch, and for understanding that I needed time away from everyone to complete this work. To everyone who has opened their hearts or doors to me, thank you so very much.

Last, I am very grateful to Danièle Fogel for all your emotional support: your love, patience, and understanding during the writing of this book. Without your friendship and care, it would have been more difficult to embark on this journey, especially while at Oberlin College.