The popular conception of the author is someone solitary and isolated, working hours a day at a desk, uninterrupted by human interaction. That may be the experience of some authors, but that certainly does not describe mine. I know from experience that the writing of books requires supportive colleagues and friends. And this is the place to acknowledge debts to those persons who rendered aid, insight, and sometimes even just moral encouragement.
I would like to begin with a group of people I know at Emory Law School, most of whom have an association with the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. I should like to begin by acknowledging Lee Ann Bambach. It was Professor Bambach who extended to me an invitation to participate in a conference she was organizing on alternative dispute resolution and the law. “Could I please submit a paper?” She asked. I did as she requested and that paper became the early, first draft of this book. I should also like to thank Dr. Courtney Freer. Dr. Freer chaired the panel at which I presented my paper, and asked good and important and thoughtful questions. Then there is Silas Allard, the managing editor of the Journal of Law and Religion, who helped steer an early version of this book in the right direction. Finally, of course, there is John Witte. John has been a valued friend for over thirty years. And he concluded that this text should find a fitting home in the book series he helps to edit. I hope you like the book!
I must also thank some persons at my home institution, the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota. First, I must thank the University administration for granting me a sabbatical in the spring of 2022. It was during that sabbatical semester that I wrote and delivered the paper that became this book, and it was also during that time that the outlines of this larger project became clear. I would also like to thank Professor Mariana Hernandez Crespo Gonstead, who was the first person to suggest to me the theme of “peacemaking” as the central unifying principle of the volume. I must thank the University of St. Thomas Library staff. There is Michael Robak, the Library Director of the Schoenecker Law Library of the University of St. Thomas. Michael is a friend, a supporter, and a very generous and warm colleague. I must also acknowledge a debt to the Law Library’s staff, particularly Stefanie Hollmichel, who is always quick to fill even the most challenging interlibrary loan requests. And Niki Catlin, research librarian, who also provided much needed assistance.
And since this work is interdisciplinary, I must indicate my appreciation for the great support I have received from the staff of the Archbishop Ireland Memorial Library, who always graciously answered even the most obscure questions. In particular I should like to thank Betsy Polakowski, who has recently stepped down as Director of the Ireland Library, and Mason Mitchell, who has recently assumed that mantle. Finally, I should state my gratitude for the wonderful support I have received from the Law School’s administration. There is Joel Nichols, whom I have known for a quarter century, and who has been an enthusiastic friend and colleague, now serving in the role of Interim Dean of the Law School. And I should also thank Lisa Schiltz, the Law School’s Associate Dean, who is always quick with a warm-hearted word. Thanks! And there are my many colleagues. I shall single out two – Rob Kahn and Julie Jonas – for their wonderful conversations on scholarship and much else.
I must also thank my wife, Cheryl Thorgaard Reid, who must put up with the idiosyncracies of an author at work. Cheryl has been a loving, supportive, devoted, and wonderful human being in the more than forty years that we have known each other. She tolerates my eccentricities with humor and fondness. Cheryl, thanks so very much!
Finally, I must thank James Brundage, to whose memory this book is dedicated. I first became acquainted with Professor Brundage in the 1970s, while I was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Over the years he became a mentor, a friend, and an inspiration. I hope that this book repays the early confidence he showed in me.