Page 291 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“Dr. Mac” and Suzy McCarthy in Daytona Beach, Florida, will never fade
from my memory. Neither will I ever abandon the exceptional set of val-
ues they passed on to me and my siblings—Ginger, Colleen, and Brian—
whose steadfast support and encouragement makes them three of my
greatest allies in life.
The newest additions to my family portrait are my in-laws in Quito,
Ecuador—Dr. Alberto Avila, his wife Susi, Alberto’s mother Laurita, and
the rest of the Avila clan: Beto and Isabel, Dario and Fernanda, and Gaby,
who have been as welcoming and supportive of me as if I were a natural-
born member of the family.
I also want to acknowledge the debt to my close friends George Bur-
den, Mark Hageman, Mike Ramos, and Robert Staples for their great
counsel and constant encouragement.
By having all these incredible people in my life, I have been richly
blessed.
I could not have completed this ambitious project without a first-rate
team. Pamela Suarez worked on every aspect of the book, especially
researching, fact-checking, and editing—she made every single page of
this book better. My highly capable longtime assistant, Angela Murcia,
conducted advance research and set up over two hundred interviews,
ensuring that I had everything I needed to make the most of each one in
the shortest time possible. She also made certain that all the interviewees
filled out their written questionnaires in a timely manner. And Ginger
Wilmot skillfully transcribed the audio files from the LBJ tapes and pre-
pared transcripts of all those interviews, sometimes under incredibly tight
deadlines. These three extraordinary women kept the project moving for-
ward and did it with extraordinary patience, professionalism, and good
humor.
I must also recognize one of my mentors, retired Major General
Bernard Loeffke, a former White House Fellow who is currently serving
as a medical missionary for the poor in troubled hotspots around the world
such as Sudan, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Twenty years ago, “Burn” helped
me prepare for the White House Fellows selection process, and it was he
who encouraged me to write this book four years ago. He has had a big
impact on my life, and he is a true American original.
Jack LeCuyer, Executive Director of the White House Fellows Foun-
dation and Association (WHFFA), applied his outstanding fact-checking,

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