Stephen, who chose not to participate in the research for this book, went on to have a career in social work, before retiring in South Norwalk, Connecticut, where he lives. Chris resides in the family house in Village Creek. He toured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra until 2017.

“My father didn’t talk much. And my mom didn’t reveal that much either. But at least my parents gave me jazz.”

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

THIS BOOK EXISTS, QUITE SIMPLY, BECAUSE THERE are people in my life who believe in me and never hesitate to help me. From family and friends to professional colleagues, as well as a ton of prayer, I cannot stress how grateful I am for the support system that helped Enemies in Love come to be.

My mind doesn’t think chronologically when it comes to all the people I want to thank and all the enriching experiences I’ve had while writing this book. But I’m forever grateful to Chris Albert, Elinor and Frederick’s youngest son, who couldn’t have been more generous with his time and candid about his parents. I usually took the train up to South Norwalk, Connecticut, in the morning to visit Chris at his house in Village Creek, listening to jazz in the background and thumbing through Elinor’s scrapbooks, while he smoked cigarettes and talked about his parents. This book couldn’t have happened without him.

Another person who helped make this project happen is my wonderful agent Howard Yoon, of the Ross Yoon Agency, who loved this story just as much as I did and helped me envision the very book I wanted to write.

I’m also forever indebted to Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. His support of my book through grants allowed me to travel to Europe numerous times, as well as to several places within the United States to conduct interviews and research.

To the editors of this book, Cecelia Cancellaro and New Press executive editor Marc Favreau, I am so grateful to you both for your comments, questions, strikethroughs, deletions, you name it. Your feedback and attention to detail were invaluable. And thank you to everyone else at The New Press for believing in this book—in particular, publisher Ellen Adler, editorial director Carl Bromley and senior managing editor Maury Botton.

From a personal standpoint, I’m so appreciative of my family and friends who kept me going in more ways than one. Thank you to my wonderful parents, Ben and Jennifer Clark, who’ve encouraged me to write from the moment I picked up a pen. It’s an incredible feeling to have parents who think you’re amazing and highly capable and I thank God for them every day. I also want to thank for their continuous support: my brothers Ben and Steven Clark, sister-in-law Sharon Clark, my aunt Olivia Robinson, and my fairy godmothers Renée Paige and Sande Robinson.