Richmond Noir

Editors’ acknowledgments

Believe it or not, the following volumes were consulted during the research and conceptualization of this book: Poe’s Richmond by Agnes Meredith Bondurant; Richmond: The Story of a City by Virginius Dabney; The River Where America Began: A Journey Along the James by Bob Deans; The American Scene by Henry James; True Richmond Stories: Historic Tales from Virginia’s Capital by Harry Kollatz Jr.; James Branch Cabell and Richmond-in-Virginia by Edgar MacDonald; The Air-Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller; The Book of Numbers by Robert Deane Pharr; Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation by David A. Price; and the 2008 edition of the Richmond Magazine Complete Source Book.

Thanks are owed to the following for their help and advice: Ray Bonis and the staff of Special Collections and Archives at the James Branch Cabell Library at Virginia Commonwealth University; Katherine Wilkins and the staff of the Virginia Historical Society; and the staff of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.

For support, patience, and brainstorming, we are grateful to Rachel Albright, Liz Canfield, Crystal Castleberry, Santa De Haven, Mandy Dunn, Steve Dunn, Jamie Fueglein, Jonathan Heinen, Jeff Lodge, Cynthia Lotze, Lauren Maas, Ryan McLennan, Ann Mc-Millan, Peter Orner, Faye Prichard, Patty Smith, Ward Tefft, Kelsey Trom, Adam Wayland, and the good people at the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of English.

We’d especially like to thank Johnny Temple and the staff of Akashic Books for their enthusiasm about the project, and for their support during some extremely rough patches.

We owe special thanks to Tom Robbins, whose praises we shall sing until time eternal.

Lastly, we are greatly indebted to David L. Robbins, whose wonderful story “Homework” can be found in this collection. David was the first writer who signed on to the book, and he has been its tireless promoter ever since. Without his efforts, Richmond Noir would not exist.