The character of Dan Sandler, who shows up as a screenwriter pitching a TV show about the cheese moon, is named for the actual Dan Sandler, who donated money for the appearance. When the fund-raiser happened I warned that it was possible that the character would die horribly, and Dan noted that he hoped that if he died, a coconut would somehow be involved. As it happens, Dan’s character did not die in the pages of the story, but I regret to say that after Dan Sandler the screenwriter left his TV show pitch, he was tragically killed on the 101 South, after the driver of an eighteen-wheeler
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