This book is co-written with Marc Rubin, Peter Fisher's partner. Rubin was a special education teacher and the novel is based on Rubin’s experiences teaching troubled youth. The teacher, Bob Davidson, is a gay activist teaching "at a multiracial New York school for juvenile delinquents" (from Kirkus Reviews 1979). The students don't have knowledge of Davidson's activities outside the classroom until he appears on a local television talk show.