I have no idea why Chris Dodge asked me to compile this zine. I barely know Sandy Berman at all. I've only met him a handful of times. He can't even remember how to pronounce my name right. (Repeat after me, "KAH-tee-ah". Sounds like "Mafia", kind of.)

While he may not know me, I definitely know him. I heard about him on my very first day of library school, as a matter of fact. My cataloging professor told us about a guy in Minnesota who started assigning subject headings to fiction despite the Library of Congress's protests. I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do and couldn't understand why LC would have a problem with it. (I was so young, I was so naïve.) I soon decided that Sandy Berman was a swell guy, and I keep finding more evidence of this all the time.

Obviously, I'm not the only one who thinks so. This zine is proof of that. Sandy has inspired the hell out of everyone who contributed, along with countless other people out there.

I'm bad with superlatives, but if I weren't, I would apply every single one that I know to Sandy Berman. (I would even invent a few that don't already exist, too.)

Happy reading, Sandy. You rock our worlds.

Katia Roberto, June 16, 1999

P.S. Special thanks to Chris Dodge and Mitch Freedman for going above and beyond the call of duty to help create this zine. You two rock as well.

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