nervousness, and aggravation I caused them while I was involved with my
hacking adventures and the aftermath following my arrest. Now that I’ve
turned my life around and continue to make positive contributions to the
world, I hope this book will bring much happiness to my mother’s and
grandmother’s hearts and erase some of
the memories of the negative
experiences described in these pages.
How I wish my dad, Alan Mitnick, and my half brother, Adam Mitnick,
would have lived long enough to break open a bottle of champagne with me
on the day my memoir appears in the bookstores. Although my dad and I
had a difficult time living together as father and son, we had lots of great
times, too, especially taking his boat out for fishing trips in and around the
Channel Islands in Oxnard, California. More important, my dad provided
me with love and respect and gave me a great deal of support while I was
riding the rough road through the Federal criminal justice system. He joined
other volunteers from
2600
magazine when they picketed several Federal
courthouses to protest the government’s handling of my case. A few weeks
before
I was released from custody, he suffered a mild heart attack.
Tragically, his health rapidly deteriorated after he acquired a serious staph
infection during his surgery and then turned out to have lung cancer, as
well. He passed away a year and a half after I was released. I didn’t realize
how much time I had lost with my father until he wasn’t around anymore.
My aunt Chickie Leventhal has always been there for me, especially
when I really needed her most. When FBI agents searched my apartment in
Calabasas in late 1992 while I was working for Teltec Investigations, she
contacted a close attorney friend of hers, John Yzurdiaga, who generously
provided legal advice and eventually represented me pro bono, along with
his partner Richard Steingard. Whenever I need advice or a place to stay in
Manhattan Beach, she is always there offering her love and support. I
cannot forget her longtime boyfriend, Dr.
Bob Berkowitz, who has been like
an uncle to me, always willing to talk with me whenever I need advice.
My cousin Trudy Spector was so kind and generous in allowing my
mom and grandmother to stay in her home whenever they would commute
to Los Angeles to visit me. She also allowed me to stay at her place before I
decided to disappear after my supervised release had expired. I wish she
could have had the opportunity to read these words, but she sadly suffered a
serious medical issue and passed away in 2010. I feel a great sense of loss
and sadness that I lost such a loving and caring person.
My dear friend Michael Morris has always been a true and loyal friend
to my family and me. Thank you, Mike, for
all your kind and generous
support throughout the years. I know you’ll personally remember a lot of
the stories written in these pages. I will always cherish your friendship.
I have had the extraordinary good fortune of being teamed up with
bestselling author Bill Simon once again to write my memoir. Bill’s notable
skills as a writer include his magical ability to take information provided by
me and write it up in such a style and manner that anyone’s grandmother
could understand it. Bill has become more than just a business partner in
writing; he is also a close friend who has listened to my stories, sometimes
several times over to ensure that the story is written with precision.
Although we had several moments of frustration and disagreements
regarding the inclusion of technical-based
hacking stories during the
development phase of this book, we always compromised to our mutual
satisfaction. In the end, we decided to target a larger readership that didn’t
require prerequisite knowledge such as advanced hacking or networking
skills. Besides working with Bill Simon, I had the pleasure of teaming up
with Donna Beech for some work at the end of the project. It was great
working with her.
I’m eager to thank those people who represent my professional career
and are dedicated in extraordinary ways. My literary agent, David Fugate of
LaunchBooks, spent a great deal of time negotiating the book contract and
acting as
a liaison with the publisher, Little, Brown. My speaking agent,
Amy Gray, with New Leaf Speakers, has represented me for almost a
decade. She has thoughtfully and diligently worked with countless clients
throughout the world who hired me to keynote at their events. She has done
and continues to do an awesome job as my agent. Thank you, Amy. And
always remember—Almost Famous ;-)
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Little, Brown on
developing this exciting project. I wish to thank my editor, John Parsley, for
all his hard work and great advice on this project. Thank you, John. It was a
pleasure meeting you while I was in New York.
I wish to thank my childhood hero Steve
Wozniak for spending his
valuable time in penning the foreword for my memoir. This is the second
foreword that Steve has graciously written for me. The first one was
published in
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
