The Rainmaker [antikvár]

There is a fictional character in this story by the name of Professor Smoot. I have no idea why I used the name Smoot. In any book there are hundreds of names, and I rarely remember where they come from. I pull some from obituaries, others from the sports page. Many are simply fabricated on the spot. The professor is described as "an oafish egghead," and I remember thinking that Smoot somehow fit him.I had no idea that a real Smoot had once taught law at Memphis State. In fact, had I known this, I most certainly would not have used the name. I enjoy writing about litigation; being a defendant in a lawsuit is another matter. I expect to be sued every time I publish a book, so I go to great lengths to cut my losses.I avoid real names in real places.Long after the hard-cover publication, I was having coffee with Francis Ford Coppola in New York, and he asked me why I used the name Smoot, especially since there had been a real one at Memphis State. I thought he was joking. So he produced a photo he'd taken of a class picture hanging in the law school, and, sure enough, there was the smihng face of Professor Smoot.I immediately wrote him. He now teaches under the name of James R. (and not Howard) Smoot at Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana. He agrees that we never met, and says that he has been amazed and amused by the incident. He is in any event pleased to have been able to set the record straight, insofar as it may have been left askew, by playing the movie role himself.