The right thing to do in a book like this is to acknowledge everyone I have ever met, for with every interaction I've learned something more about the right—and often the wrong—thing to do. So to all the people with whom I've ever crossed paths, I say thank you very much, you've taught me a lot.
That said, there are a number of people I'd like to single out, people without whose support this book would never have happened.
First, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Valerie Barth, Senior Editor at Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Valerie's unwavering support for Choosing the Right Thing to Do, even in light of my own occasional doubts, sustained this project from start to finish. The book you are reading would not exist without her.
Second, I would like to thank the thoughtful and compassionate reviewers who read earlier drafts of Choosing the Right Thing to Do and gave me insightful and illuminating commentary. Burton Frierson, Kendra Armer, Alis Valencia, Mark Mendenhall, Paul Wright, and Cathie Leavitt were all much kinder and gentler with the manuscript than those early drafts warranted. Their comments provided structural as well as philosophical direction and helped make the final version infinitely stronger than the original. Anything of value that emerges from this text can be directly attributed to their assistance; all the mistakes in here are my own.
My colleagues in the doctoral program in Philosophy at the University of Washington offer me ongoing intellectual support and counsel. I would especially like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Jean Roberts, for allowing me the time and space to pursue this rather personal and somewhat nonacademic project.
I am indebted to Jana Mohr Lone, the director of the Northwest Center for Philosophy for Children, for introducing me to Philosophy for Children. Working with grade school and middle school kids in the exploration of philosophical questions is both humbling and invigorating and had much to do with how I approached writing this book.
I gladly owe Dick Leider my deepest thanks for many reasons. His generosity in allowing me to work with him in co-authoring Repacking Your Bags provided numerous tangible and intangible supports that led directly to this book. His helpful comments on earlier drafts of Choosing the Right Thing to Do helped clear up confusion in the text and my head. And his ongoing influence on my life and career as a mentor cannot be overstated.
I would like to thank all the people who appear in stories in this book. By sharing your lives, you have made Choosing the Right Thing to Do come alive in the world and on the page.
My wife, Jennifer Dixon, and my daughter, Amelia Grace Dixon-Shapiro, have my undying gratitude for reasons too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say that their indulgence, tolerance, and love are the primary sustenance of my life.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents who got me interested in questions of right and wrong in the first place. I am grateful to my mother for being a model of how one should speak and write about such issues. And I owe my father—who, tragically, passed away during the writing of Choosing the Right Thing to Do—the deepest possible debt of gratitude imaginable. His kindness, compassion, generosity, and strength of character have left a legacy of moral wisdom we all may aspire to.