Тhis book chronicles a season of truly remarkable happenings in
my life. They began just after my fiftieth birthday and persist-
ed over an eleven-year period. It has taken me longer - thirteen years in
fact from their cessation - to narrate them in print and fit for an audi-
ence of readers such as yourself, and only then with a great deal of edi-
torial help. While it was no simple task to live with these experiences, as
will be evident and understandable as I now recount their details, it has
proved even harder to tell others about them, and then in a cogent manner.