Authors: Marc Laidlaw
I would like
to acknowledge a tremendous debt that I owe the many gifted writers who have
explored Tibetan themes. Among the most inspiring books I’ve encountered are
John F. Avedon’s
In Exile
from the Land of Snows
(Knopf),
Heinrich Harrer’s
Seven Years
in Tibet
(J.P. Tarcher), Alexandra
David-Neel’s
Magic and Mystery in Tibet
(Dover), and Michael Harris Goodman’s
The Last Dalai Lama
(Shambhala). I have also benefited from the writings of modern Tibetan Buddhist
philosophers, Tarthang Tulku and Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. I can recommend
these works highly to anyone whose imagination and sympathies are stirred by
Tibetan history.
The soaring
Tibetan Bells
compositions of Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings provided continual inspiration
during much of the book’s writing. They make an ideal soundtrack as well.
For the loan
of these and other indispensable source materials, I want to thank Richard
Kadrey and Lincoln Raphael. For introducing me to San Francisco’s Kagyu Droden
Kunchab temple, whose color and vitality had a strong influence on this book,
my thanks go to Zohra Todorovich. For more subtle inspiration, I offer my appreciation
to Lama Lodo and His Eminence Kalu Rinpoche. Pat Murphy was generous with
advice and encouragement, as were my agent Merrilee Heifetz and my editor
Shawna McCarthy. Rudy Rucker was invaluable for recalibrating the Bardo device.
And as always, I am grateful to my wife Geraldine for her patience, enthusiasm,
and support through the various phases of this novel’s development.
Finally, I must thank the proprietors of Tibet
West on Christopher Street. I happened across this shop on my first night in
New York City, and therein held a conversation with a Tibetan gentleman who
kindly dispelled my reluctance to write of a land that was not my own. On that
evening, numerous stray intentions came together and this book was finally
born. It was indeed an auspicious encounter.
Tashi deleg!