Barry Alter and I began talking in December 1992. \u00a0I have benefited in more ways than I can number.\u00a0 Our conversations will never end, because, as Barry has insisted, we are in each other\u2019s hearts and lives forever.<\/p>\n
The following have provided practical assistance in bringing In the Midst<\/span> to completion: audio engineer Mitch Hanley, independent producer Lisa Morehouse, and cartographer Matthew Hartzell.\u00a0 Daryl Ireland and Eva Pascal picked up the baton on the last lap to create an interactive Internet home for the project.<\/p>\n My thanks to Prof. Dana Robert, who offered me formal affiliation as a Visiting Researcher<\/a> at Boston University\u2019s School of Theology and its Center for Global Christianity & Mission<\/a>.\u00a0 Both she and Ada Focer provided historical context as well as much welcome enthusiasm for the project. And thanks to Martha Smalley, curator and librarian of the Day Missions Collection at the Divinity Library at Yale University. She brought the work of Prof. Robert to my attention.<\/p>\n I was fortunate to get feedback on parts of In the Midst<\/span> from leaders of and participants in the following workshops and retreats: Big Shed\u2019s\u00a0 \u201cDigging In\u201d at Duke University\u2019s Center for Documentary Studies in July 2012 and UnionDocs\u2019 Full Spectrum Storytelling Intensive in December 2013. Julia Barton lent her expert ears as an AIR mentor in 2012.\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m grateful to David Hollinger for the invitation he extended to listen to his Danforth Distinguished Lectures in November 2013 at Washington University on \u201cProtestant Foreign Missions and Secularization in American Society.\u201d<\/p>\n Interviews with the following increased my understanding of Barry\u2019s life and choices: Aaron Alter, Bett Worcester Alter, Thomasin Alter, Tom Alter, Steve Alter, Ellen Stewart Alter, John Alter, Robert Alter, Molly Biswas, Alfie Campbell, Ashoke Chatterjee, Marty Alter Chen, Chuck Forman, David Hollinger, and Stan Leavy.<\/p>\n Thanks to my family and friends, who have listened to me talk about this project for years. Many thanks also to those belonging to the vast network of family and friends that Barry Alter helped create and grow.\u00a0 We are all the beneficiaries of Barry\u2019s decision to live her life fully in the midst.<\/p>\n Catherine A. Corman, Ph.D.<\/p>\n