Tribute
The Magical World of Using Your Voice
The People Behind the Story
Every character in this book is based on someone real. Every one of them is an angel to us. This page exists for the people who want to know who they are.
🐶 La La Bean — our baby, Cali’s great-great-niece
La La Bean is the only living character in the book. She is our baby — exactly as loud, joyful, and relentless as the pages suggest. She came into our lives carrying Cali’s line forward, which means she carries something of everyone in this story with her every single day.
🐾 Cali Bear — our first baby
Cali Bear was our first baby, arriving in our first few months of marriage. She was wise, calm, and gentle in a way that was impossible to explain and impossible to miss. She never left a room without making it better. La La Bean is her great-great-niece — by blood. The line didn’t just continue in spirit. It continued in blood.
✨ George and Evelyn Dellon — Matt’s grandparents
The day Matt’s grandfather passed, a damselfly came to their front door for the first time. She returned every year on the anniversary of his birthday — without fail, every single year. When his grandmother passed, two damselflies appeared on the anniversary of her birthday. Every year since. Without fail. The lane where Cali and La La walk together — where La La learns to breathe, to listen, and to help — is called Damselfly Lane. Some things need no explanation.
🦋 April March — Nicole’s grandmother, the First Lady of Burlesque
April March was known across the Globe as a headline performer for over 25 years. She was celebrated for her elegance, sophistication, and grace — and she brought those same qualities to everything she touched. She is Nicole’s grandmother. In the book, La La stops and stares at April the butterfly, transfixed by how bright and beautiful she is. That is exactly the right response.
🦙 Tony Hsieh — founder of Zappos
Tony Hsieh built one of the most beloved companies in the world on a simple belief: that how you treat people is the most important thing you build. He was one of the kindest, most generous people we have ever known, and one of Matt’s closest friends. He is described in the book exactly as he was in life — a friend to one and all. He left too soon. He is in our hearts every day.
🐿️ Shanon Knight — co-founder, Fashion Fit Models New York
Shanon Knight spent two decades at the center of fashion — first as a model working alongside the industry’s most celebrated designers, and later as the owner of Fashion Fit Models New York, a modeling agency she built from her passion and turned into something that changed her industry. She was deeply important to both of us. And she is responsible — indirectly but undeniably — for Cali and La La. It was watching Shanon with her Maltese, Meli, that we knew. We were going to be Maltese parents.
🌿 Lucy Lopez — our neighbor, our family
Lucy Lopez has been part of La La’s life since the very beginning. She home cooks turkey for La La every single day. She has cared for her like a baby — because that is exactly what La La is to her. She is our neighbor, and we love her like family. In the book, the place where Cali and La La practice listening is called Lucyland. It is where La La has always felt most safe, most loved, and most herself. There is no better place in the world to learn how to listen.
“The people you love become the voice inside you that knows how to move through the world. They are always with you — in how you breathe, in how you listen, in how you show up.”
— Nicole and Matt Eventoff