It would be difficult to list and thank the many people who lent me encouragement and from whom I have learned so much through informal conversations, conference discussions, and writings—published and unpublished.
I must begin by thanking John Wharton for his foresight and encouragement. His support and guidance first made it possible for me to work toward the goal of noise abatement.
Further thanks go to Jerome Nathanson and the other members of the Board of Directors of Citizens for a Quieter City, and to the steering committee of the Upper Sixth Avenue Noise Abatement Association. I am especially indebted to Dr. Samuel Rosen, who generously gave me of his time and wisdom, and Martin Hirschorn and Francis Kirschner, who not only shared noise control expertise but encouraged my search for abatement.
Among the noise control specialists I also thank James Botsford, John Duda, Alfred Greenberg, and Dr. Alexander Cohenand Herb Jones of the Public Health Service. Acoustician Lew Goodfriend kindly permitted me to quote from Sound and Vibration and made available several of his provocative unpublished papers.
I shall always appreciate my all too brief association with the late ecologist Dr. William Vogt, who aptly phrased the problem as "not mufflers, but the abusive use of technology."
Among the leaders of the international noise abatement movement, I wish to thank John Connell of The Noise Abatement Society, England, and Dr. O. Schenker-Sprüngli, General Secretary of the International Association Against Noise. I am grateful for the cooperation and continued support of the Honorable John V. Lindsay, first as a Congressman and now as Mayor of New York City; the encouragement of the Honorable Percy E. Sutton, President of the Borough of Manhattan; and a special thanks to the Honorable Theodore R. Kupferman, one of the first political figures to recognize—and act on—the validity of my position against excessive urban noise.
Among the many others who provided assistance are Ralph Brozan, Andrew Anspach, Neil Anderson, Wallace Fulton, Dr. Betty Goessel, Dr. Jack Goldman, Irwin Margaloff, Roberta Pryor, Dr. Richard Sullivan, the late Irwin Solomon, and Dr. Bruce Welch. I am especially indebted to James Larkin, and the executives and staff of Scali, McCabe, Sloves, Inc.
I am indebted to Ellie Kurtz for her exceptionally helpful editing of the manuscript.
I accept full responsibility for any errors in fact. The viewpoints I express are my responsibility and do not necessarily represent those of any organization with which I am associated.
Finally, I owe much to my family: to my mother, who taught me to be curious, to my father, who trained me to be persistent. It all may have started with my daughter Stacey, who at the age of two asked me to "stop the noisy street." And this book could never have been completed without the help of my devoted wife Joan, who in some ways bore more of its burden than did the author.