THE SHELTERS OF STONE

With great regret, I offer gratitudein memoriam , to David Abrams, professor of anthropology and archeology in Sacramento, California. In 1982, David and his research assistant and future wife, Diane Kelly, took Ray and me on my first research trip to Europe-France, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Ukraine (then Russia)-to visit for the first time some of the sites where the books in the Earth's Children® series took place, some 30,000 years ago. I was able to get a sense of the localities, which helped me tremendously. We became friends with David and Diane, and saw each other several times over the years, both here and in Europe. It was a shock to learn that he was so ill-he was too young to go-but he held on with perseverance for much longer than anyone predicted, always keeping a wonderfully positive attitude. I miss him.

I must thank another dear friend,in memoriam , Richard Ausman, who helped me to write these books by designing comfortable places where I could live and work. "Oz" had a special genius for creating beautiful and efficient homes, but more than that, he had been a good friend to both Ray and me for years. He thought they had caught the cancer in time, and married Paula hoping for many more years with her and her children, but it was not to be. I feel great sadness that he is no longer with us.

There are many others I probably should thank for insights and assistance, but this is too long already, so I will end with the one who counts the most. I am grateful to Ray, for his love, support and encouragement, for helping to provide the time and space for me to work in spite of my strange hours, and for being there.