One of the secondary characters, Tom Kolwiecki, is from New Jersey. Tom is a volunteer and part of the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program, and his character is regularly referred to as ' the VISTA' by the inhabitants of the mining community. The VISTA program is a real program and part of the AmeriCorps organization that promotes community service. The VISTA program grew into prominence with the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 signed by President Lyndon Johnson. In the book, Kolwiecki first appears in 1965.