Acknowledgments

The Missing Manual series is a joint venture between Pogue Press (the dream team introduced on these pages) and O'Reilly Media, Inc. (a dream publishing partner).

The first person to whom thanks is due is Marcia Palmer, my Kindergarten math teacher, who introduced me to Logo before I even knew how to read. Logo was my earliest experience with computer programming, and I've never lost interest.

More recently, I owe a great deal to Chuck Toporek, whose editorial comments on this book were far and away the most thorough I've ever received. Chuck was flexible when scheduling became tight, incredibly helpful in getting the book into production, and in innumerable other ways the best editor anyone could possibly imagine.

I also owe tons of thanks to Sarah Milstein, Missing Manual Superwoman, for her own ultra-helpful comments. Without Sarah's input, this book would have been yet another techy AppleScript guide, rather than a beginner-friendly Missing Manual. (And of particular note, I'd like to thank Sarah for being open to me writing an AppleScript book in the first place.)

The four technical editors also were top-notch. Paul Berkowitz's insightfulness and personal AppleScript expertise were particularly helpful, as were John Gruber's wonderfully constructive suggestions. Lydian Meredith brought the helpful perspective of a first-time scripter, and August Trometer's careful testing caught several important glitches that would have slipped through otherwise. Altogether, these technical editors made the book far better.

My parents, Risa and Eliot, have been amazingly helpful in their own right. They signed my book contract since I'm too young to do it myself, and had few qualms about letting me write a book while school was in session. They offered me endless supplies of food, shelter, andmost importantlylove, without which it would have been hard to write anything at all.

My sister, Hannah, offered all of the above (with the exception of food and shelter). So did all four of my grandparents: Ben, Ruth, Roseanne, and Jim.

Last of all, I am eternally indebted to David Pogue, God of Technical Writing, for his willingness to let a high schooler work with him. Letting me tech-edit, edit, and finally write a book in the Missing Manual series was unbelievably magnanimous of him. And had it not been for the inspiration of David's own books, I never would have been interested in technical writing in the first place.