by Robin Furth
EDDIE’S ASSOCIATES, PAST AND PRESENT:
BERNSTEIN, MISS: Miss Bernstein (we never learn her actual name) was paralyzed in a car accident. VII:103
BERNSTEIN, MRS.: Mrs. Bernstein’s daughter was paralyzed in a car accident in MAMARONECK. VII:103
BERTOLLO, DORA (TITS BERTOLLO): Dora Bertollo was Eddie’s mother’s friend. The kids on Eddie’s block called her Tits Bertollo because her breasts were the size of watermelons. V:187
BOY WITH BASKETBALL: This young black boy witnessed Eddie’s interactions with BALAZAR’S MEN in CO-OP CITY. Thinking the boy might get into trouble if he talked too much, Eddie told the kid to forget everything he’d seen. II:110, II:113
BUNKOWSKI, DEWEY: Dewey was one of Eddie and HENRY DEAN’s friends. III:187
BUNKOWSKI, MRS.: She was DEWEY’s mom. III:187
COTER, CHUGGY: The Chugster was one of Eddie’s old friends. While HENRY DEAN was in VIETNAM, Eddie and Chuggy went to the movies together. They liked Westerns. VI:285
DEAN, GLORIA: See DEAN, GLORIA, listed separately
DEAN, HENRY: See DEAN, HENRY, listed separately
DEAN, MRS.: See DEAN, MRS., listed separately
DEAN, WENDELL: See DEAN, WENDELL, listed separately
HATHAWAY, MISS: Eddie’s third-grade teacher. II:295
KENOPENSKY, MARY LOU: While Eddie was still at school, he had a crush on this girl and wrote her name all over his books. VII:144
KIDS FROM NORWOOD STREET (MURDERED BY MANSION DEMON): According to HENRY DEAN, two kids from Norwood Street went to the haunted DUTCH HILL MANSION to bump uglies. By the time the police found them, all the blood had been drained from their bodies and their eyes were wide open, as if they’d died terrified. III:187
LOONY KIDS: When Eddie was young, these kids used to run around the neighborhood shouting, “I’m the Barber of Seville-a, You must try my fucking skill-a.” The comedy entitled The Barber of Seville was written by Pierre Beaumarchais and was produced in Paris in 1775. It later gave rise to several operas. The kids were probably actually thinking of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber, who killed his customers and had his baker-accomplice turn them into meat pies. V:631–32
LUNDGREN, DAHLIE: Dahlie Lundgren owned a shop that made great fried dough. He also sold comic books, which were fairly easy to steal. Eddie, HENRY, and their friends used to smoke cigarettes behind Dahlie’s shop. We don’t know whether Dahlie approved or not. V:187, V:203, V:257
MARYANNE (MAJESTIC THEATER): See DEAN, HENRY: HENRY DEAN’S ASSOCIATES
McGURSKY, MRS.: Eddie and HENRY DEAN’s neighbor. II:175
MISLABURSKI, MRS.: Mrs. Mislaburski was a large-bosomed old lady from CO-OP CITY who wore pink support hose. Mrs. Mislaburski would brave the icy sidewalks of Co-Op City to attend Mass and to visit the CASTLE AVENUE MARKET. VII:102–3
MR. “FUTURE CORONARY” BUSINESSMAN: Eddie bumps into this anally retentive businessman during his first solitary sojourn (via BLACK THIRTEEN) into 1977 NEW YORK. The man’s attitude reminds Eddie of the punch line of an old New York joke: “Pardon me, sir, can you tell me how to get to City Hall, or should I just go fuck myself?” V:516–17
MR. RELAXED WINDOW-SHOPPER: Eddie meets this guy when he travels through the UNFOUND DOOR to 1977 NEW YORK. Mr. Relaxed (but somewhat sarcastic) Window-Shopper tells Eddie the date. V:517
OFFICER BOSCONI (BOSCO BOB): ANDY, the smiling but treacherous robot of CALLA BRYN STURGIS, reminds Eddie of Bosco Bob, the cop who had the BROOKLYN AVENUE beat in Eddie’s old neighborhood. When you met him casually, Bosco Bob was friendly and happy to see you. However, if he thought you’d done something wrong, he’d turn into a dangerous robot-of-the-law. V:140, V:141, V:633
PERTH OIL AND GAS: VII:324–25
POTZIE: Eddie Dean’s cat. II:111
SALLOW BRITISH MAN: See BALAZAR, ENRICO: BALAZAR’S NASSAU CONNECTION
SOBIESKI, MARY JEAN: Mary Jean Sobieski was one of Eddie’s high school girlfriends. He lost his high school ring in the CONEY ISLAND sand the summer he was dating her. We can only imagine how that might have happened. V:701
TUBTHER, MR.: Mr. Tubther was Eddie’s fifth-grade teacher and one of the voices-of-doom which Eddie hears in the CAVE OF VOICES. Mr. Tubther believed that Eddie’s potential was ruined by his brother, HENRY DEAN. V:512
TURNPIKIN’ FRIENDS: See DEAN, HENRY: HENRY DEAN’S TURNPIKIN’ FRIENDS
UNCLE REG: Eddie’s uncle. He worked as a painter on both the TRIBOROUGH BRIDGE and the GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE. III:292
DELTA FLIGHT 901 CHARACTERS, NASSAU TO JFK:
ANNE: Stewardess, Delta flight 901. II:58
CABBIE: He helped Eddie make a quick getaway from the “Priests of Customs.” II:90–91, II:95
CUSTOMS OFFICIALS: Roland called these guys the “Priests of Customs.” II:40, II:41, II:42, II:46, II:47, II:58, II:61–62, II:63, II:64, II:69, II:70, II:75 (DEA), II:76, II:78, II:79–84, II:85–90 (seven of them), II:91, II:92–95 (following cab), II:96–99, II:104, II:111, II:112, II:119, II:205, II:239, II:241
DEERE: Copilot, 727 Delta flight 901. II:74–76, II:78–84
DORNING, JANE: Stewardess, Delta flight 901. Jane Dorning was the first member of the flight crew to notice that something was not quite right with Eddie. She thought that Eddie was a terrorist. Her friend SUSY DOUGLAS realized that he was a drug smuggler. II:38–39, II:45–46, II:52–55, II:56, II:58–60, II:61, II:64–69, II:75–76, II:78–83, II:86
BATTLE-AXE FLIGHT SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR: She taught Jane how to spot potential terrorists. She was old enough to have flown with Wiley Post. II:53–54, II:59
DOUGLAS, SUSY: Susy Douglas was also a stewardess on Eddie’s fateful flight, and was friends with JANE DORNING. She spotted the cocaine bulges under Eddie’s armpits. II:59–60, II:64–69, II:75–76, II:78–83
FLIGHT ENGINEER: II:75–76
McDONALD, CAPT.: Pilot of Delta Flight 901. II:60, II:64, II:66, II:69, II:71, II:74–76, II:78–84
NAVIGATOR: II:75–76, II:78–84
OLD WOMAN EN ROUTE TO MONTREAL: II:78–79
PAULA: Stewardess, Delta flight 901. II:53
PETER: Steward, Delta flight 901. II:58
SALLOW BRITISH MAN: See BALAZAR, ENRICO: BALAZAR’S NASSAU CONNECTION
WILSON, WILLIAM: See BALAZAR, ENRICO: BALAZAR’S NASSAU CONNECTION
DEAN, GLORIA (SELINA)
Gloria Dean was EDDIE and HENRY DEAN’s sister. She was run over by a drunk driver when she was six and Eddie was two. (She was standing on the sidewalk at the time, watching a game of hopscotch.) In Song of Susannah, Eddie refers to Gloria as his “little sister.” Although this isn’t technically correct—Eddie was two when she died—he has a point. The dead don’t age. Gloria is, was, and will eternally be six years old.
II:68 (Selina), II:172, III:22, VI:277
GLORIA DEAN’S ASSOCIATES:
DRUNK DRIVER WHO KILLED HER: III:22
DEAN, HENRY (GREAT SAGE AND EMINENT JUNKIE)
Henry was EDDIE DEAN’s bossy and manipulative older brother. Eddie often refers to him as “the great sage and eminent junkie.” Henry served in VIETNAM and returned home with a bad knee and a worse habit. Acne-scarred Henry was neither very attractive nor very bright, but he had one outstanding skill—he could make Eddie do whatever he wanted. Hence, he convinced Eddie to become a drug-runner for the dangerous mobster BALAZAR.
In many ways, Henry was the bane of Eddie’s youth. Whenever Eddie tried to do something well—anything from playing basketball to woodcarving—Henry made fun of him for it. While under Balazar’s “protection,” Henry died of an overdose. During Roland and Eddie’s final shoot-out with Balazar’s gang at the LEANING TOWER, one of Balazar’s thugs used Henry’s head as a missile and lobbed it at Eddie.
Despite Henry’s nasty end, which we witness in The Drawing of the Three, the great sage and eminent junkie doesn’t rest easy. Eddie Dean’s bullying older brother continues to make cameo appearances in the final three books of the Dark Tower series, usually i
n the form of a nasty, nagging, or teasing voice at the back of Eddie Dean’s mind. (In Wolves of the Calla, Henry’s taunts also rise up from the noxious pit found in the DOORWAY CAVE.)
In the final book of the series, we find out that—on at least one level of the DARK TOWER—Henry Dean was never born. In that where and when, Eddie Dean is Eddie TOREN, from WHITE PLAINS, and his beloved bro is actually JAKE CHAMBERS (Jake TOREN), not Henry.
II:41–42, II:46, II:47, II:48, II:51, II:52, II:61, II:68, II:71–72, II:77, II:81, II:86, II:87, II:88, II:95, II:97, II:99, II:106, II:107, II:108–9 (Balazar has him), II:111–12, II:114, II:118–20, II:123–24, II:126–27, II:128, II:129, II:132–33, II:134, II:144–45, II:148, II:152 (head only), II:154–56, II:169, II:171–76, II:178, II:206, II:207, II:209, II:233–34, II:237, II:239, II:254, II:276, II:287, II:309, II:337–38, II:398, III:21–23, III:24, III:26, III:27, III:41, III:59, III:72, III:75–76, III:84, III:85, III:150–51, III:154, III:161, III:162, III:174, III:179, III:180, III:183–88, III:189, III:190–92, III:207, III:333, III:344, III:348, IV:19, IV:25, IV:42–45 (saying Eddie can talk the Devil into setting himself on fire), IV:49–50, IV:60, V:61, V:68, V:104 (Eddie’s brother), V:140 (goodfornothin bro), V:152, V:163, V:183, V:187, V:203, V:216, V:221 (indirect), V:284, V:292, V:349, V:509, V:510, V:512, V:514, V:524, V:618, V:619 (indirect), V:704–5, VI:28, VI:80–81, VI:142, VI:157–58, VI:184, VI:204, VI:212–14, VI:277, VI:285, VII:43, VII:44 (great sage and eminent junkie), VII:103, VII:118, VII:148, VII:289, VII:328, VII:336, VII:396, VII:812
HENRY DEAN’S ASSOCIATES:
GOLDOVER, SYLVIA: Sylvia Goldover was Henry Dean’s great love. According to EDDIE, she was a skank El Supremo, complete with bad breath and smelly armpits. Eventually, she deserted Henry and went off with her old boyfriend. The only memento she left was a note tucked into Henry’s wallet in place of the ninety dollars she’d stolen. The note said, “I’m sorry Henry.” VI:157–58
OLD BOYFRIEND: VI:158
MARYANNE: Maryanne was a blonde who worked at the MAJESTIC THEATER box office in CO-OP CITY. Henry probably had a crush on her, but instead of being nice he teased her until she cried. III:182–84, III:185, III:186
HENRY DEAN’S KA-TET: IV:43–45, IV:60
BRANNIGAN, SKIPPER: IV:43–45, IV:60, V:187
DRABNIK, CSABA (THE MAD FUCKIN’ HUNGARIAN): V:187, V:510
DUGANELLI, FRANK: IV:43–45, IV:60
FREDERICKS, TOMMY (HALLOWEEN TOMMY): Tommy Fredericks’s nickname came from his habit of making faces during stickball games. The faces weren’t purposeful but were the result of overexcitement. IV:43–45, IV:60, V:187
McCAIN, LARRY: IV:43–45, IV:60
PARELLI, JOHN: IV:43–45, IV:60
POLINO, JIMMIE (JIMMIE POLIO): Jimmie had a clubfoot. IV:43–45, IV:60, IV:90, V:187
PRATT, GEORGIE: IV:43–45, IV:60
HENRY DEAN’S TURNPIKIN’ FRIENDS: Before EDDIE DEAN met Roland, he, his brother, Henry, and a bunch of their friends would get seriously goobered, pile into BUM O’HARA’s Chrysler, and go up I-95 or the Taconic Parkway, feeling the wind and listening to music. Luckily, the driver stayed relatively straight. IV:90
CORBITT, SANDRA: IV:90
O’HARA, BUM: IV:90
POLINO, JIMMIE: See HENRY DEAN’S KA-TET, listed above
DEAN, MRS. (EDDIE’S MOTHER)
Mrs. Dean was EDDIE, HENRY, and poor dead GLORIA’s mother. She was a single parent and so often left Eddie in Henry’s care. (Not a good idea.) Mrs. Dean made Eddie feel like he owed his life to his older brother, who could have been great had he not had Eddie to watch out for. This was a complete family lie.
II:171–74, II:156 (parents dead), II:206 (indirect), II:239, III:22, III:28, III:60, III:76, III:179, III:185, III:187, III:188, III:207, III:235, V:98, V:140 (mother), V:179 (ma), V:182 (mother), V:187 (mother), V:215 (ma), V:245, V:368, V:510, V:540, V:622, VI:28, VI:32, VI:137 (exclamation), VI:195
DEAN, SUSANNAH (DETTA WALKER, ODETTA HOLMES, LADY OF SHADOWS, LADY BLACKBIRD, BLACKBIRD MOMMY, SUSANNAH-MIO)
ODETTA HOLMES (the first of Susannah Dean’s personalities) was the only child of the wealthy black dentist and inventor DAN HOLMES, founder of the incredibly successful and lucrative HOLMES DENTAL INDUSTRIES. She was named after the town of ODETTA, ARKANSAS, the place where her mother, ALICE, was born. Odetta lived in the penthouse of GREYMARL APARTMENTS on FIFTH AVENUE and Central Park South. In the early 1960s, she was the only black resident at that exclusive address. At the age of five, Odetta was hit on the head by a brick dropped out of a window by JACK MORT and slipped into a coma. As a result, her second personality, that of DETTA WALKER, gained life. Detta remained a small part of Odetta until August 19, 1959, when Jack Mort once again entered Susannah’s life by pushing Odetta/Detta in front of an approaching A train at CHRISTOPHER STREET STATION. As a result, both of her legs were amputated just above the knee. After the accident, Detta had more and more waking time.
Odetta was a vocal supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and often took part in protests. In fact, some racist rednecks in OXFORD TOWN actually imprisoned her and some of her Movement friends during their time in the South. Unlike Odetta, Detta didn’t believe in any movements but was full of rage against white oppression. In fact, her rage often pushed her into committing dangerous and bizarre acts.
Roland entered the mind of Odetta/Detta in the when of 1964, and brought her (complete with wheelchair) into MID-WORLD. It was in Mid-World that Detta and Odetta were forced to face each other. From their battle and eventual union arose the stronger and more vibrant third of Susannah Dean, EDDIE DEAN’s lover and then wife. Despite the creation of Susannah Dean, both Odetta and Detta continue to play an important role in the final three books of the Dark Tower series, as does Susannah’s susceptibility to multiple personality disorder.
At the beginning of Wolves of the Calla, we find out that Susannah Dean is pregnant (something she suspected as early as The Waste Lands), but within the first hundred pages we begin to fear (as does Roland) that the child she carries is not human at all, but the offspring of the DEMON she trapped in a sexual vise while Roland and Eddie drew JAKE CHAMBERS into the SPEAKING RING, located on the great plains of RIVER BARONY. While trying to keep his suspicions a secret, Roland follows Susannah on her nocturnal feeding prowls through the forests and bogs of the BORDERLANDS, as much to keep her safe as to try to discern the nature of her carry.
Quite soon, Roland discovers that Susannah is not the only mother of her child. Her body now contains yet another personality, that of MIA, whose name (in High Speech) means “mother.” Over the course of both Wolves of the Calla and Song of Susannah, we learn that Mia (unlike Susannah’s previous personalities) is not a part of Susannah’s psyche at all, but an invading spirit whose sole purpose is to feed and protect the CHAP, which Susannah’s body harbors. Unlike Susannah, who lost her legs from the knee down, Mia can walk. Susannah can use those legs when she travels TODASH or when her psyche is completely dominated by Mia, as it is in 1999 NEW YORK. In Song of Susannah, we also find out that Mia is white, which does not sit too well with Detta Walker.
In many ways, this schism between Susannah and Mia propels the action of Song of Susannah. At the end of Wolves, Mia hijacks Susannah’s body and travels through the UNFOUND DOOR to 1999, where SAYRE and the other WARRIORS OF THE SCARLET EYE await her and her soon-to-be-born offspring. Hoping to outsmart Susannah’s ka-tet, Mia takes BLACK THIRTEEN with her, essentially locking this magic door behind her so that no one can follow.
Not surprisingly, Mia underestimates both Susannah and her friends. With the help of the MANNI, our tet-mates Jake, OY, and PERE CALLAHAN track SUSANNAH-MIO to the DIXIE PIG, which also happens to be a den of TYPE ONE VAMPIRES. Although Callahan is killed by vampires and LOW MEN, Jake and Oy follow Susannah’s back trail to the FEDIC DOGAN, where Mia has just given birth to her were-spider baby, MORDRED. Although Susannah manages to kill her captors and escape to the New York/Fedic door, where she awaits the arrival of th
e rest of her ka-tet, she only manages to clip off one of Mordred’s legs with a bullet. She is not able to save Mia, who is sucked dry by her offspring.
After the deaths of Eddie and Jake, Susannah becomes a member of a new ka-tet—one that is bound by hate as well as love. This new group consists of herself, Roland, and Mordred—the dan-tete, or little god, whose coming has been prophesied for generations. Wherever Susannah and Roland go, Mordred—child of Mia and the CRIMSON KING as much as he is the child of his “White Daddy” Roland and his “Blackbird Mommy” Susannah—is never far behind. From the wastelands of the DISCORDIA (where Susannah contracts a blood tumor above her lip) through the WHITE LANDS OF EMPATHICA, Mordred tracks his human parents, searching for a method of attack. With Susannah, he never gets the chance. Through a pair of stolen binoculars, he watches as the mute artist PATRICK DANVILLE removes Susannah’s tumor and then literally draws the Unfound Door into END-WORLD so that Susannah can escape before Roland reaches his ultimate destination.