An edited work is, by definition, the contribution of many. The editors would like to begin by thanking each other for bringing unique talents and temperaments to what turned out to be a larger task than we first realized. Our chapter authors, however, lightened our labor by providing us with fascinating and remarkable accounts of difficulties experienced and challenges endured in many areas of the globe. Their expertise in assessing and/or responding to these crises and their patience in participating with us in bringing together these experiences into one contributory whole is greatly appreciated. Futhermore, our series editors, Drs. Therese Rando and Charles Figley, are to be congratulated for their efforts to create a series, with the Taylor & Francis Group, designed to bridge the fields of grief counseling and traumatology. The good ideas of both these clinical and academic fields are better served working in tandem to support those who are responding to loss. We would like to thank, too, the efforts of our manuscript editors at Brunner/Mazel for bringing consistency and graphic style to the text.
While this book focuses its spotlight on community crises, it was never far from our minds, no matter how widespread and dramatic the calamity described, that the essence of tragedy is the suffering of the individuals whose lives have been permanently changed by forces outside of their control. We wish to acknowledge those thousands of people whose stories have been described in these chapters but whose names must go unwritten, as well as the courage of the professional responders who are willing to support them.