Travelling to Infinity (69 page)

Authors: Jane Hawking

BOOK: Travelling to Infinity

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Since I finished writing the Postlude, Stephen has completed his zero-gravity flight and returned to earth intact, giving rise to triumphant pictures in the media. The smile on
his face as he floated in weightless liberation would have moved the stars. It certainly moved me profoundly and made me reflect what a privilege it was to travel even a short distance with him on
the way to infinity.

Acknowledgements

In
Music to Move the Stars
, the first edition of my memoir, I expressed my profound gratitude to all those people pictured within, friends, members of the family,
colleagues and students, whose help and encouragement over the years had brought a positive influence to our family life. I also thanked my scientific friends, Kip Thorne, Jim Hartle, Jim Bardeen,
Brandon Carter and Bernard Carr for their help in clarifying some of the more abstruse and intractable scientific issues which I had to address in the course of the writing, as well as gratefully
acknowledging the advice of Peter Dronke in elucidating some of the finer points of medieval scholarship.

For
Travelling to Infinity
, the abridged version of the original memoir, I once again wish to express my thanks to all of the above and add the names of those who have made the new
edition possible. Anthony McCarten has been a constant source of encouragement, and in his enthusiasm for
Music to Move the Stars
, introduced me to Alessandro Gallenzi and Elisabetta
Minervini of Alma Books, who took the new project on with eagerness, alacrity and efficiency. I am extremely grateful to them for enabling my memoir to see the light of day again. I am indebted to
Mike Stocks who took time from his own highly successful career as a writer to help tidy up the excesses of my prose. His tactful and supportive criticism has been invaluable and much
appreciated.

Finally thanks are due to my family for once again allowing me to delve into their life stories and for showing forbearance and humour during the process.

List of Illustrations

1. The Sixth Form at St Albans High School. I am standing second from the right in the back row, next to Gillian Phillips on my left and
Diana King on my right.

2. Wedding in Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 15th July 1965. From left to right: my grandmother, Stephen’s father, my mother, my brother
Chris, Stephen, me, Rob Donovan, Stephen’s mother, Stephen’s grandmother, my father.

3. Little St Mary’s Lane

4. Stephen with Robert, 29th May 1967.

5. Robert aged nine months sitting between Stephen and my father.

6. Lucy’s christening, December 1970.

7. Family excursion, Little St Mary’s Lane, 1971.

8. Stephen turning back the waves, Brancaster, summer 1971

9. Picnic on the Cam with my parents, Kip Thorne, Brandon, Lucette and Catherine Carter, John and Suzanne McClenahan and unidentified
scientist with back to camera.

10. Robert, Lucy and Inigo Schaffer at play in Little St Mary’s Churchyard 1972.

11. FRS, May 1974.