Acknowledgements

I want to take a moment to thank my Father, Walter A. Watts for taking an interest in spinning tops and extending that interest to me. Dad learned to spin tops from Jim Schreiber at Oak Hills Bible College, Bemidji, Minnesota while he was a student there in the early 1960's. Since that time Dad has shared spinning tops at camps and retreats in the United States and around the world. During my growing up years I considered the spinning top Dad's toy. Recently, I have taken top spinning more seriously.

It would be impossible for me to write this seminal work without the quiet patience of my mother. Thanks mom for sharing in your quiet way what you believe are the essential values that I also hold today.

I also thank Don "Mr. Top" Winters who took time to encourage me as I strove to learn new tricks. Don also encouraged me to take time to write about top spinning. For the friendship, precision craftsmanship and excellent explanation of top spinning I am grateful.

Thanks to Don Olney who founded The Toycrafter and got me interested in the International Jugglers Association. It was through the IJA that I realized the broader possibilities of top spinning. I also began to consider the possibility of writing.

I thank Jeff Ryan for proving that the task of writing my first book is possible. I also thank Cary Bates for helping me along in the path of creativity and invention.

Without the support of my wife Jayne and our children, B.J., Rachel, Christopher and Heidi, no time would have been available for writing. If you benefit from this book - as I have - a thank you to my family would be appreciated.

Top Information
International Top Spinners Association
Watts' Tops