Notes on "Star-Crossed":

•  Sergeant Preston: played by Richard "Dick" Simmons, no relation to the exercise guru.

•  "...one of Luciana Serrano's favorites": from the story "Inn."

•  "handing her the passports": Sighs remembering the halcyon days when you didn't need passports at the Canadian border.

•  The length of the total St. Lawrence Seaway system is 2,340 miles. Good job, Bobby.

•  "...Maison Duplantier": from the story "Synthesis."

•  The entry to the house is on the ground floor, in the European fashion.

•  "Mr. Spinelli": from the story "Influencer."

•  "a favorite crime program of Noémie's" - Hmmn. Could that be Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent?

•  "...a 1940s-era dog story": Juneau, the Sleigh Dog. I loved these books as a child, rather than the sappy girls' books where the heroine was always worrying about whether some boy would like her or what she would wear to the junior prom, but there's no question that one must read them with an understanding of the era.

•  "Since I don’t carry booties with me."/"Junior Ranger handbook": from the story "Off-Trail."

•  "the dog was a collie.": Happily noted this detail on a trip to Ste. Anne in the 1970s.

•  L'eau de la Vie: The word "whiskey/whisky" means "water of life."

•  Hôpital Saint-François d'Assise: a real hospital, and Poulet Rouge is across the street (Bora Parc, the water park, is a real place as well).

•  "Françoise Élisabeth Marielle": Bobby's mother, Alex's mother, and Noémie's mother. (Take that, Evangeline Pepin.)