I know the author. Great uncle of an ex of mine, I spent a week with him in a ranch in Northern California. He's a really interesting guy. Funny thing about him, he's smoked his whole life, he's in his 80s now I think, but 25 years ago he started a habit of only smoking on Saturdays. Our weekend trip straddled a Saturday so early that morning he wakes me up and we go out to a picnic table under some trees and he pulls out a full pouch of tobacco. I think it was American Spirit tobacco, but I forget. The thing I remember is him teaching me how to roll a cigarette and we smoked almost the entire pouch that day. He's one of those wizened old men who can't answer a straight forward question but if you get him to talk, his rambles take you places.