But last week's TLE finally prompted me to do a little remembering. The quotes are approximations; some of these memories are decades old.

The first time I met Neil in person, he—as I came to learn was characteristic of him—went to a back room to retrieve guns he wanted to show off. Naturally, I had to reply in kind. I brought out…

"Good god, what is that?"

Semi-inspired by Neil's novel Pallas, I'd bought an LAR Grizzly in .45 Win Mag when I had the chance. But that was the first time Neil had seen one with a two inch compensator.

On another visit, I found Neil perusing shotgun catalogs. "Don't you have enough shotguns?"

"Boys are noticing Rylla. I need the perfect coach gun to be cleaning when the boys come to see her."

I think that was the same visit when Neil gave me something that may be unique: a signed copy of the first draft of The American Zone. On 3.5" floppy. I still have it. After reading it, I hesitantly offered a critique, and some suggested… improvements. I mean, who was I to tell L. Neil Smith how to write?

When the hardback was published, I rushed to buy it. I'm sure everyone is quite aware of Neil's habit of inserting not-so-thinly-veiled real people into his novels, so I was thrilled to see I'd made it into the final version. Sorta.