Other biographies that proved helpful include: Aviatrix (1981), Elinor Smith; The Body Merchant—The Story of Earl Carroll (1976), Ken Murray; Diz— Dizzy Dean and Baseball During the Great Depression (1992), Robert Gregory; The Forrestal Diaries (1951), edited by Walter Millis with E. S. Duffield; James Forrestal—A Study of Personality, Politics and Policy (1963), Arnold A. Rogow; The Hunt for “Tokyo Rose” (1990), Russell Warren Howe; Jackie Cochran—An Autobiography (1987), Jacqueline Cochran and Maryann Bucknum Brinkley; Wanderer (1963), Sterling Hayden; and the biography of a business (Marshall Field’s), Give the Lady What She Wants (1952), Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan.
Material on the Irish Republican Army was drawn from The I.R.A. (1970), Tim Pat Coogan, and The Secret Army—A History of the IRA (1970), J. Bowyer Bell. Restaurant and nightclub color were derived from Dining in Chicago (1931), John Drury, and Out with the Stars (1985), Jim Heimann; baseball reference from The Gashouse Gang (1976), Robert E. Hood. The following WPA guides were consulted: California, Illinois, Iowa, Los Angeles, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri. Aviation references include China Clipper—The Age of Great Flying Boats (1991), Robert L. Gandt; This Was Air Travel (1962), Henry R. Palmer, Jr.; United States Women in Aviation, 1930-1939 (1985), Claudia M. Oakes; and Women Aloft (1981), Valerie Moolman.
I would again like to thank editors Michaela Hamilton and Joseph Pittman for their support and belief in Nate Heller and me—Joe was extremely patient when I called into question my reputation for meeting deadlines by requesting extension after extension, as I attempted to meet the challenges of this material; and of course my agent, Dominick Abel, for his continued professional and personal support.
My talented wife, writer Barbara Collins, helped me through this difficult, rewarding project, providing frequent impromptu trips to the Muscatine Public Library, and constant insightful criticism, keeping me aloft as much as possible, and lovingly walking me away from crash landings.
Max Allan Collins has earned fifteen Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” nominations, winning for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective and Stolen Away, and receiving the PWA life achievement award, the Eye. His graphic novel, Road to Perdition, which is the basis of the Academy Award-winning film starring Tom Hanks, was followed by two novels, Road to Purgatory and Road to Paradise. His suspense series include Quarry, Nolan, Mallory, and Eliot Ness, and his numerous comics credits include the syndicated Dick Tracy and his own Ms. Tree. He has written and directed four feature films and two documentaries. His other produced screenplays include “The Expert,” an HBO World Premiere. His coffee-table book The History of Mystery received nominations for every major mystery award and Men’s Adventure Magazines won the Anthony Award. Collins lives in Muscatine, Iowa, with his wife, writer Barbara Collins. They have collaborated on seven novels and numerous short stories, and are currently writing the “Trash ‘n’ Treasures” mysteries.
