Slow Dollar

FORWARD

I was introduced to the carnival world by my cousin Brandy, with it and for it for twenty-five years, and I am forever grateful. The books she lent, the inside stories she told, and all the jackpots she cut up with me were invaluable. If I learned more from my independent research than she intended, if my totally fictional Ames Amusement Corporation doesn’t exactly conform to her own “Sunday schooler” standards, I hope she’ll forgive me and understand the needs of the story I wanted to tell.

As always, Judge Deborah Knott’s courtroom behavior owes much to the advice of District Court Judges John W. Smith, Shelly S. Holt, and Rebecca W. Blackmore of the 5th Judicial District Court (New Hanover and Pender Counties, North Carolina). Unfortunately, they have no influence at all on her out-of-courtroom behavior.

For the uninitiated, I have included a glossary of carny terms at the back of this book.

Carnivals arc pure Americana: the glitz and flash of colored lights, the fried-food-on-a-stick, the cotton candy, the “step right up-win a prize” pitches. If it’s summer, here’s probably one playing somewhere near you even as you read. Put down this book, turn off the television, load up any available kids, and go find one now. Build a memory for the children or for yourself before the carnival disappears into our past.