When I published Taste of Spruce Gum back in 1968 or so, I used actual names gleaned from Grandma Vi of people who lived and worked on top of Shrewsbury Mountain in Vermont in 1905. To my surprise, I got letters from people knowing those folks and telling me what happened to them! So this is something I’ve had to be aware of in using real names. Current problem: In Vol. 4, I have a lovely chapter of my dad in the 50s traveling Wisconsin with a young Swede, visiting seed-corn salesmen. He has written this trip up in a lively letter to his kids. At one point, he describes having lunch with a family: “the father, a widower, married a school teacher. Together they added a half-a-dozen more children to the ones he already had.” My dad describes the house as “dirty,” the former school teacher as “blowsy,” and the children as “absolutely beautiful.” The last name is distinctive and he gives the town. So, I looked up that name in that town and find the area is absolutely crawling with this family. If this chapter is published as is, there’s a likely chance this unusual name will be recognized and the adult kids will read Dad’s description. Question: Do I change the name in the book? Or, do I let that extensive family know how beautiful they were? Of course, the house was dirty – so is mine. Of course that overworked mother was blowsy! This might sell a lot of books. So what would you advise?