The White Road

Acknowledgments

IN RESEARCHING THIS book I relied greatly upon the work and knowledge of others, including Before Freedom by Belinda Hurmence (Mentor, 1990); Rice and Slaves: Ethnicity and the Slave Trade in Colonial South Carolina by Daniel C. Littlefield (Illini Books, 1991); The Great South Carolina Ku Klux Klan Trials 1871-1872 by Lou Falkner Williams (University of Georgia Press, 1996); Gullah Fuh Oonah by Virginia Mixon Geraty (Sandlapper Publishing, 1997); Blue Roots by Roger Pinckney (Llewellyn Publications, 2000); A Short History of Charleston by Roger Rosen (University of South Carolina Press, 1992); Kaballah by Kenneth Hanson Ph.D. (Council Oak Books, 1998); American Extremists by John George and Laird Wilcox (Prometheus Books, 1996); and The Racist Mind by Raphael S. Ezekiel (Penguin, 1995).

In addition, a number of individuals gave generously of their time and knowledge. I am especially grateful to deputy attorney general Bill Stokes and assistant attorney general Chuck Dow at the Maine attorney general’s office; Jeffrey D. Merrill, warden of what was formerly the Maine State Prison, Thomaston, and his staff, especially Colonal Douglas Starbird and Sergeant Elwin Weeks; Hugh E. Munn, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; Lieutenant Stephen W. Wright, City of Charleston Police Department; Janice Kahn, my guide to Charleston; Sarah Yeates, formerly of the Museum of Natural History in New York; and the National Park Service staff of the Congaree Swamp National Monument.

On a personal note, I want to thank Emily Bestler, my editor at Atria Books, for her constant faith; Sarah Branham, her associate editor; Judith Curr, Louise Burke, and everyone at Atria Books and Pocket Books for giving me a home; Sue Fletcher, Kerry Hood, and all at Hodder amp; Stoughton; my agent Darley Anderson and his staff; my family; the booksellers who have supported my work; and, belatedly, Dr. Ian Ross, who introduced me to Ross Macdonald; and Ella Shanahan who kept me in funds when nobody else would.