Not well schooled in the publishing business, I would have thought that publishing what in reality is a 5th Edition of my procurement ethics book would be easy: I would just update the text with recent cases. My faithful editor, Myra Strauss, had a better idea: do a complete revision, make it more readable, overhaul major parts of the book, and update the text with recent cases. As a result of her vision, my name ends up on a significantly more useful guide on a very difficult topic. I also have to acknowledge her skillful colleague, Lena Johnson. Her day-to-day shepherding of the numerous drafts and revisions showed her attention to detail that every writer counts on to make sure a book is accurate. Finally, I know that Jared Stearns has and will continue to help get the book to a wide audience. I never could have done it without them. Thank you Myra, Lena, and Jared.
Finally, I have been remiss in not earlier acknowledging the significant role that Barbara Beach of Management Concepts has played in my writing career. Her request decades ago that I write the "Recent Decisions" column for the Federal Acquisition Report gave me my start in writing about government contracts and I want her to know how much I appreciate her obvious "good judgment."
Terry O'Connor
Alexandria, Virginia
