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during the first week of her course on the social determinants of health to hold truths lightly, to look for the story behind the story, and to make certain they were passionate about whatever research area they chose. I have held fast to those words throughout my career, they continue to serve me well and I pass this advice on to my own students. David Coburn planted the theoretical and analytic seeds that continue to help me make sense of a complex world. Jessica Polzer, after listening to me talk about my data and the contradictions in it, asked the seminal question, Are you looking at neoliberal theories? I had thus far circled only the outer edges of this theoretical perspective, but her question brought home to me that it offered the best hope for making sense of my data. It brought my data to life in ways that I do not think would be possible with any other theoretical perspectives.
I am also grateful to the family, friends, and colleagues who each in their own way have been a source of support, inspiration, guidance, and encouragement—in particular, Gwen Smart, Sue Oppedisano, Viv Mushin, Ellie Berger, Wendy Sun, Burnella McKenzie, Jan Angus, Denise Gastaldo, Ellen MacEachen, Martin Sommerfeld, Sue Ferrier, Ali Thompson, Andrew Richards, and Michael Williams. I am also greatly indebted to the women and men who participated in this study for their generosity, their openness, and their willingness to share the stories of their work and personal lives with me. I also want to thank the administrative staff at the Department of Public Health Sciences (now the Dalla Lana School of Public Health) at the University of Toronto, who over the years has been wonderfully kind to me and who always went above and beyond to help, especially Sandy Lang, Larry Nieva, and Bessie Gorospe. I also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the University of Toronto, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program, and the Institute for Work and Health.