Preface Bringing this Reader to fruition would not have been possible without the inspiration, encouragement, support and editorial suggestions of Franz Pöchhacker and Miriam Shlesinger for our idea to produce a Reader specific to Sign Language Interpreting Stud ies, based on their original The Interpreting Studies Reader (2002) which is a must read for any student in Interpreting Studies or related disciplines. We would like to recognize Miriam posthumously for her ongoing feedback and suggestions in reviewing our sug gested papers for inclusion in the Reader. We are also deeply indebted to Franz for his reviews of the entire manuscript; the Reader is truly a remarkable product. We are also grateful to Isja Conen for her willingness to take on this project with John Benjamins as well as her support and encouragement for the Reader. We would like to acknowledge our colleagues who advised and encouraged our efforts for the Reader, in terms of supplying historical and biographical information, and these include: Dennis Cokely, Nadja Grbić, Alan Hurwitz, Robert Ingram, Betty Ingram, Carl Kirshner, Lorraine Leeson, Peter Llewellyn Jones, Marina McIntire, Christopher Stone, Laurie Swabey, and Anna Witter-Merithew. In particular we would like to thank Elizabeth “Betsy” Winston, whose advice, historical information and perspectives, suggestions, and editorial comments were extremely helpful. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their careful review and constructive suggestions that made this Reader a better book. We were fortunate to have graduate students from the Department of Interpretation at Gallaudet University assist us with searching for copies of articles, references, and bio graphical information. Denise Mammen, a Masters student, assisted us for over a year and was especially helpful and brilliant. We also thank Emily Balzano, Mark Halley, Paul Harrelson, Ricardo Ortiz for their help with this project. Thank you to Dawn Wessling, who created and assisted with our index. Two Ph.D. students at Heriot-Watt University, Lee Williamson and Marwa Shamy, made a significant contribution to the Reader by translating two of the papers that we wanted to feature, one originally composed in French and the other in German, into English. We acknowledge their efforts to produce these very good translations in a short timeframe. In addition, we also want to thank Mayumi Shirasawa who found a Japanese paper written for the First National Conference of Japanese Sign Language Interpreters in 1968, and communicated with the National Research Association of Sign Language Interpreta tion for permission and their translation of this paper. Gallaudet University Library staff generously gave their time and efforts to obtain obscure papers and help with reprint permissions. Our thanks to Sarah Hamrich, ElizabethHenry, Laura Jacobi, Jim McCarthy and Dianne Bowen. We also thank our respective university departments – the Department of Interpretation at Gallaudet University and the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot-Watt University for their support in this effort. Finally, we thank our families, friends and colleagues who have watched and sup ported us throughout this undertaking. We have delighted in working together on this project as it has given us a long desired opportunity to work together, and we hope that you enjoy reading this volume as much as we have relished putting it together!
