My Uncle Harold was the inspiration for Karrie's "Uncle Sy." He and "Aunt Cookie" appear in both YOU HAVE TO KISS A LOT OF FROGS and LOOKING FOR MR. GOODFROG. In GOODFROG, Sy reappears with humor and zest, as well as his zeal for Karrie, clowning, and his favorite homebaked cookies. But this time he's lost some of his bounce. He has neuropathy.

When I wrote the first draft in 2004, my Uncle Harold was already feeling considerably worse than Uncle Sy. I hoped that would turn around. But it didn't. And last week, two days before LOOKING FOR MR. GOODFROG was released, my uncle passed.

A patricarchal figure in our family, a man whose waters ran deep, one whose silliness could rival his ferocity, he will be sorely missed.

I wanted to bite into a memory one day. The memory of tonight and the memory of the story I had been told. "I want the puggie recipe," I told my uncle Sy. "You dictate and I'll write." Sy gave the instructions and I wrote them down. He had substitued yogurt for sour cream Maybe I, too, would modify the recipe. One day when I baked maybe I would make a change. But at the very least, I knew in my own way I would continue the chain.

We will all miss you, Uncle Harold. We will always love you, and we will always remember.