Acknowl­edg­ments in Out­live pro­vides read­ers with a heart­felt and behind-the-scenes look at the col­lab­o­ra­tive effort and per­son­al resilience that helped bring the book to life. Orig­i­nal­ly placed on hold in ear­ly 2020 due to set­backs with the man­u­script sub­mis­sion, the project faced con­sid­er­able obsta­cles when the authors were let down by their book agent and pub­lish­er. How­ev­er, Michael Ovitz’s time­ly inter­ven­tion became a piv­otal moment, help­ing revi­tal­ize the project and enabling it to move for­ward. Ovitz’s encour­age­ment led to the man­u­script being pre­sent­ed to Diana Baroni at Pen­guin Ran­dom House, mark­ing a sig­nif­i­cant turn­ing point that allowed the book to progress toward its even­tu­al pub­li­ca­tion.

The author express­es deep grat­i­tude for the indis­pens­able con­tri­bu­tions of co-author Bill Gif­ford, whose role went far beyond mere­ly being a col­lab­o­ra­tor. Gif­ford was key in trans­form­ing the man­u­script from a tech­ni­cal draft into a nar­ra­tive that was engag­ing and acces­si­ble to a broad­er audi­ence. Often referred to as the author’s “trans­la­tor,” Gif­ford was instru­men­tal in break­ing down com­plex ideas and mak­ing them relat­able to read­ers, a task that required a bal­ance of sci­en­tif­ic accu­ra­cy and clar­i­ty. As the author and Gif­ford worked close­ly togeth­er, they not only honed the man­u­script but also formed a close friend­ship. Gifford’s ded­i­ca­tion to the project extend­ed beyond writ­ing, mak­ing him a cen­tral fig­ure in its suc­cess.

Bob Kaplan, who head­ed the research team through 2021, played a crit­i­cal role in ensur­ing the book’s fac­tu­al accu­ra­cy and depth. His rig­or­ous feed­back, con­stant push­back on ideas, and involve­ment in orga­niz­ing and fact-check­ing the man­u­script were invalu­able in shap­ing the final prod­uct. Kaplan’s con­tri­bu­tions were fur­ther sup­port­ed by a tal­ent­ed group of col­leagues, includ­ing Vin Miller, Rachel Har­rus, Sam Lip­man, and Kathryn Birken­bach, who all worked tire­less­ly to ver­i­fy the accu­ra­cy of the mate­r­i­al. Their col­lec­tive exper­tise helped ensure that Out­live was both well-researched and sci­en­tif­i­cal­ly cred­i­ble, enabling it to pro­vide read­ers with a reli­able and insight­ful explo­ration of top­ics relat­ed to human health and longevi­ty.

Addi­tion­al­ly, the author thanks the many experts in spe­cial­ized fields such as neu­rode­gen­er­a­tive dis­eases, can­cer, sleep sci­ence, nutri­tion, and aging who con­tributed their knowl­edge to refine the man­u­script. The feed­back pro­vid­ed by these spe­cial­ists ensured that the book was not only fac­tu­al­ly sound but also rel­e­vant to cur­rent sci­en­tif­ic dis­course. Beyond this aca­d­e­m­ic input, the author also gained sig­nif­i­cant insights from his inter­ac­tions with patients and pod­cast guests, whose sto­ries helped ground the book in real-world expe­ri­ences. These con­ver­sa­tions added depth and nuance, reflect­ing the inter­sec­tion between research and lived expe­ri­ence, which is so vital in dis­cus­sions about health, aging, and longevi­ty.

The acknowl­edg­ment sec­tion also gives heart­felt thanks to the sup­port­ive friends, col­leagues, and pro­fes­sion­als who were involved in the book’s devel­op­ment in a vari­ety of ways. From ear­ly read­ings to pro­vid­ing con­struc­tive feed­back, many indi­vid­u­als played a part in shap­ing the direc­tion of the man­u­script. Spe­cial thanks are giv­en to Rodri­go Cor­ral and his design team for their care­ful and cre­ative work on the book’s cov­er, which visu­al­ly cap­tured the essence of the book’s themes and research. These indi­vid­u­als’ con­tri­bu­tions, although behind the scenes, were essen­tial in ensur­ing that Out­live reached its full poten­tial.

Fur­ther­more, the author reflects on the sac­ri­fices made by his fam­i­ly, espe­cial­ly his wife, Jill, who offered unwa­ver­ing sup­port dur­ing the demand­ing and time-con­sum­ing process of writ­ing the book. The ded­i­ca­tion required for such an exten­sive project often meant time away from fam­i­ly, and the author acknowl­edges the emo­tion­al toll this placed on his loved ones. In par­tic­u­lar, he express­es a deep desire to now devote more qual­i­ty time to his chil­dren, Olivia, Reese, and Ayr­ton, hav­ing com­plet­ed this mon­u­men­tal task.

Bill Gif­ford also adds his own note of grat­i­tude, thank­ing Martha McGraw for her guid­ance and sup­port dur­ing the more chal­leng­ing aspects of the project. Gif­ford acknowl­edges that McGraw’s coach­ing played an instru­men­tal role in help­ing him stay focused and moti­vat­ed, even when the project seemed insur­mount­able. Addi­tion­al­ly, Gif­ford high­lights the cru­cial sup­port of Bob Kaplan, whose research assis­tance was invalu­able through­out the entire writ­ing process. Togeth­er, their com­bined efforts ensured that the book was both thor­ough in its research and com­pelling in its sto­ry­telling.

The acknowl­edg­ment sec­tion of Out­live encap­su­lates the spir­it of resilience, col­lab­o­ra­tion, and mutu­al sup­port that were nec­es­sary for the book’s cre­ation. It reveals the deeply human aspect of writ­ing and research, empha­siz­ing the many peo­ple whose exper­tise, time, and efforts helped bring the book to life. This sec­tion serves not only as a trib­ute to those who con­tributed but also as a tes­ta­ment to the com­plex, inter­con­nect­ed nature of cre­at­ing some­thing mean­ing­ful and impact­ful. Through shared ded­i­ca­tion, pro­fes­sion­al col­lab­o­ra­tion, and the per­son­al sac­ri­fices of fam­i­ly and friends, the book became more than just a prod­uct of one individual—it is the result of a col­lec­tive vision and effort to com­mu­ni­cate vital infor­ma­tion about human health and longevi­ty to the world.