Ansel Adams by Mary Street Alinder

time of my original investigations; and James B. Snyder.
    The Sierra Club’s William E. Colby Memorial Library in San Francisco has been a great resource. Its riches have been made accessible by their extraordinary and kind librarian, Ellen Byrne, who found exactly what I was looking for and then shared many lovely surprises to add to my research as well. She knows the library’s resources from beginning to end. Jim Bradbury, executive editor at the Sierra Club, has been very supportive as well.
    I am indebted to many fine scholars whose work has contributed greatly to my understanding of Ansel Adams, but I would like especially to acknowledge Nancy Newhall, Ansel’s brilliant first biographer, whose The Eloquent Light and “The Enduring Moment” provided essential information; Beaumont Newhall, who overwhelmed me with his generous sharing of knowledge; and Ruth Teiser and Catherine Harroun, whose valuable interviews with Ansel on behalf of the Oral History Project of the Bancroft Library run to 747 pages.
    I have the highest esteem for Dr. Donald W. Olson, astronomer and professor of physics at Texas State University, San Marco. His investigations with his students into the dating of Ansel’s negatives are both scientific and wondrous. When I have questions, if Don doesn’t know the answers, he sets off in search of the truth that by then we both seek. He makes me want to go back to school and sign up for his astronomy classes.
    For their keen perceptions of Ansel, I would like to thank Robert Baker, Ruth-Marion Baruch, Peter C. Bunnell, Liliane De Cock, Phyllis Donohue, Patricia Farbman, Marj Farquhar, Tim Hill, Pirkle Jones, Fumiye Kodani, Doris Leonard, Pete Merritt, Sue Meyer, Beaumont Newhall, Ted Orland, Rondal Partridge, Terry Pitts, Chris Rainier, David Scheinbaum, Willard Van Dyke, Maggi Weston, Charis Wilson, and Don Worth. Their interviews greatly enhanced and balanced this prose portrait. In addition, a few dear souls volunteered to read drafts of this book: the comments of John Breeden, P. Kay Dryden, Bryan McCann, Naomi Schwartz, Creig Hoyt, and my dearly missed, and always supportive and loving parents, Mickey and Scott Street, proved invaluable.
    I am grateful to colleagues and friends for their assistance, especially Alice and Gilbert Alinder, Susanna Barlow, Ted Benedict, Alan Coleman, Heidi Endemann, Peter Farmer, Peter Farquhar, Joseph Holmes, Linda Lichter, Richard Lutgen, Christi Newhall, Wendy Platt, Shirley Sargent, David Scheinbaum, Jonathan Spaulding, Sjaan Vanden Broeder, Barbara Van Dyke, and Richard Zakia.
    During the nine years I worked for Ansel, including the period following his death, I was part of a hardworking team. I treasure those colleagues: Robert Baker, Victoria Bell, King Dexter, Phyllis Donohue, Rod Dresser, Pam Feld, Sabrina Herring, Fumiye Kodani, Stuart Lobenberg, Bob Millman, Chris Rainier, Alan Ross, John Sexton, Judy Siria, and Bruce Witham.
    Over an expanse of time and a variety of projects, Virginia Adams was never too busy to answer my questions. She remains a hero to me in many ways, in part for forging a career and raising children while standing by a man who may not have deserved such faithfulness. Anne Adams Helms’s research into her family’s genealogy is impeccable and has provided important historic information.
    At my back at all times has been Charles Ferguson, my friend and, lucky for me, my attorney. His wise counsel provided a framework within which I was able to determine how best to pursue the telling of Ansel’s life story. I value the additional advice expertly provided by Fred Koenigsberg and Steve Betensky.
    Ray Roberts, senior editor at Henry Holt, was my very trusted editor on the first edition of this book. Ray and I had previously worked easily and successfully together on both Ansel’s autobiography and the book of letters. Ray personally knew Ansel, lived through many of the events of those same last years, and understood better than