Chapter 8 Footnotes

There are few footnotes for Chapter 8, although I should mention that the news article at the beginning has a lot of relevance for the sequel, The Background Noise of Souls. The story concerns the death house at a Texas prison and the fact that shortly after execution prisoners show up online. In a sense, those prisoners are now free to leave the prison and enjoy the same access to the AfterNet as anyone.

Chapter 7 Footnotes

Currently the foundation’s statutes read: “Work produced by a person since deceased shall not be considered for an award. If, however, a prizewinner dies before he has received the prize, then the prize may be presented.”

It’s true that since 1974 the Nobel prize cannot be awarded posthumously.

Antonia Simone, the woman whose invention and death led to the discovery of the afterlife, praised the decision … Nobel watchers agree Simone is unlikely to be nominated.

Dr. Antonia Simone invented what later became known as the AfterNet field. Unfortunately her zeal in trying to develop the field led to the deaths of two volunteers.

“But Dr. Olaf Bols definitely deserves recognition and it would help dispel the notion that he ‘stumbled into his field.’”

Bols’ accidental death helped establish the validity of Dr. Simone’s work. It was he that determined that a living person’s fields could be “fingerprinted” for later identification, and was the first person to be so validated after his electrocution.

 Munroe had been asked to stake out a bench in Cheesman Park and observed a payoff between a driver’s license examiner and the person running the scam.

Cheesman Park is a lovely park east of downtown. With the high-rise apartments surrounding it, it has a little New York Central Park feel. It’s named after Walter Scott Cheesman and was, appropriately enough, originally Prospect Hill Cemetery. When you’re walking through the park, you may occasionally observe slight depressions in the ground that might have been someone’s grave (not all were removed when the cemetery became the park).

“The usual,” he said. “Caught one of the games at the sports bar next to Coors Field.”
She opened her eyes. “You mean Hooters, don’t you?”

Coors Field, is of course, home to the Colorado Rockies, who have, as I write this in August 2011, pretty much given up any chance of a pennant race. The Hooters has closed, much to Munroe’s annoyance.

Yamaguchi and Munroe parked on the street next to the church in the Five Points region of Denver.

Five Points is an historically black area northeast of downtown Denver. But like many areas has seen a lot of gentrification as lower downtown spread northward. It is so named because  Washington and Welton streets meet 27th Street and 26th Avenue, a consequence of the 45° angled downtown streets meeting the north-south/east-west oriented streets of the rest of the city.

“Wow, demotivators,” she said.

My particular friend Lee adores demotivators, and I’ve always enjoyed this poster. I think it says a lot of the Rev. Anderson that he would have this in his office.

… like the picture of Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot.

I’m always happy to toot the horn for a fellow Coloradan.

Munroe spent a few hours that night at Duffy’s, a bar near the eastern end of the 16th Street Mall.

In my world, Duffy’s bar never closed.

Chapter 6 Footnotes

There aren’t many footnotes for Chapter 6, although it does introduce the central idea behind the plot of Good Cop, Dead Cop, and you might want to stop here if you haven’t read or finished the book.

Chapter 5 Footnotes

The AutoShark is Bodigger’s pride and joy: an autonomous robotic shark that can effortlessly prowl the deep ocean for up to a month.

The AutoShark was inspired by RoboTuna, developed at MIT. There’s a further article here at Smithsonian Magazine and at National Geographic. It makes a nice companion to the Asimo robot mentioned in the Chapter 5 footnotes.

Chapter 4 Footnotes

Encyclical of Pope John Paul II on developments involving communication with the dead.

My brilliant husband Jim wrote the encyclical that starts Chapter 4. I had had the idea that the church would need to rationalize the existence of the AfterNet and asked Jim if he could write a church encyclical, basically a letter from the pope explaining something to the faithful. He basically found an existing encyclical and adapted it.

Chapter 3 Footnotes

The trees in the Aokigahara forest can cast dismal shadows even in summer, but in the winter, the funereal gloom looks especially inviting to those who brave the maze-like trails of this haunted forest.

Chapter 2 Footnotes

… and Linda Wertheimer reports that non-profits are feeling the pinch.

I love listening to Linda Wertheimer. And yes, I am a National Public Radio junkie. Listening to NPR and Colorado Public Radio kept me sane while remodeling my house. I remember being in my gutted house, probably trying to puzzle together the plumbing, when I heard the Shuttle Challenger exploded. And Linda Wertheimer just reeks of professionalism. I apologize for dragging her into my book.

Chapter 1 footnotes

No electrical or water services seemed to enter this room in the sub-basement of the old train station

Denver’s original Union Station opened on June 1, 1881, in the central Platte Valley but was heavily damaged by fire in 1894. It was quickly rebuilt and is the building that stands today, but it was not until 1914 that the building took the shape that is recognizable today (and can be seen on the cover of this book). There is only a basement, no sub-basement (that I know of).