A Map of Glass (41 page)

It could only have been overwhelmed, Jerome decided, swallowed up – destroyed, in fact – by the enormity of its own wishes.

D
uring the four years that passed while I was writing this novel, a great number of people helped and encouraged me, both personally and professionally. In particular I would like to thank Mieke Bevelander, Pat Bremner, Anne Burnett, Liz Calder, Adrienne Clarkson, Ellen Levine, Allan Mackay, Ciara Phillips, Emily Urquhart, and Tony Urquhart. Pertinent bits of valuable information, or inspiring thoughts, were provided by Mamta Mishra, Rasha Mourtada, and Alison Thompson, as well as by archivists at the Library and Archives Canada and the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston, Ontario. Without Pat Le Conte I would not have been able to finish the novel in comfortable surroundings. Without the luck brought to me by a certain multiple of three, there would have been much less joy.

Several publications were also very important to me, especially John K. Grande’s essays on earth sculpture and the two wonderful volumes describing the Calvin Timber Business on Garden Island:
A Corner of Empire
by T.R. Glover and D.D. Calvin and
A Saga of the St. Lawrence
by D.D. Calvin. The imaginary timber empire described in the central section of
A Map of Glass
is very loosely based on the Calvin business, but all characters and events are purely fictional. Another book I found helpful was
Great Lakes Saga
by A.G. Young. The phrase “the ugliest species of watercraft ever to diversify a marine landscape” used on pages 157 and 169 was borrowed from this volume.

I would also like to thank the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (
CNIB
) for information concerning tactile maps and the Perth County Historical Foundation for information on the Fryfogel Inn.

I am very grateful to Heather Sangster for her careful attention to details.

I would like to thank my much loved late father, Walter (Nick) Carter, who was a benign, careful, and highly respected mining engineer and prospector, and whose affection for his profession led to my own, admittedly now diminished, knowledge of the mining world.

Finally, a special thank you to my editor, close friend, and best adviser, Ellen Seligman.

Jane Urquhart
is the author of five internationally acclaimed, award-winning novels including
The Stone Carvers
,
which was long-listed for the Booker Prize, and
The Underpainter
, winner of the Governor General’s Award. She has also written a collection of short fiction and three books of poetry. She lives in southwestern Ontario.