In all likelihood, it would not have been possible to write it without the "source material" that our dear departed Evo friends unstintingly provided on a daily basis when they were still here....
So very true. The personality of a main character in the dialogue was a cross-section of our correspondents' personalities. I suspect many of them would have seen that along with some of their best arguments.
Still, I miss a whole lot of those people: They were great fun to argue with.