My question is this: Did Mario have any beliefs about people's experiences just before death? Aren't those characters' thoughts just before death a little bit oddly familiar (in their strangeness)?Will we see any similar pattern in The Family?

Thanx Carol.[/QB][/QUOTE]

Hi Sonny,
Each of an author's characters is an aspect of him, so I'm certain they were part of his beliefs and emotions. And in "The Family," yes, there is also a death scene with feeling closer to the truth of how he felt. He did know by the way, that people have "near death" experiences because for years I was a nurse and told him what people told me. When he had his heart surgery, I begged him to bring me back a vision. And he did. He said he saw "a mountain of fluffy mashed potatoes with flakes of chipped beef and brown gravy flowing all over it." That was it. That's what sent him back to earth. So much for Near Death Experiences.