Sally Darling asked Daniel Hecht:

This is going to sound bizarre, but I think you used to know my Dad - Geoffrey Williams? He passed away in 2015. I happened to stumble onto your Goodreads and my jaw dropped. If you are indeed the author he knew, he spoke very, very highly of you and your work. I apologize for leaving this comment on a public forum, but I am fairly new here, and don't know if there is an option to send a private message. Thank you!

Daniel Hecht Geoff was my best friend for many years, and his obsessive interest in so many things catalyzed my own curiosity about the world. When we were kids, he got me into dinosaurs, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and geology; later in life, his roving mind awakened me to blacksmithing, the Zulu Wars, motorcycles, and so much else. I loved his visits here to Vermont, when he'd bring artifacts to show me from his trips to South Africa, and he'd stomp back and forth in our living room, regaling us with story and opinion and his own poetic descriptions of things. His manic enthusiasm and obsessional fascination for certain topics taught me the power of such enthusiasms and gave me license to do likewise. He alone understood the humor hidden in the grotesque of my book "Puppets," and I always knew he loved me. I hope he knew how much I loved him, despite the miles between us. I always told him he should write about his adventures and ideas -- he'd get rich! I have missed him terribly since his death.

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