When Dorothy's son said he only knew his father through his books, I wondered how did he not figure out his father was still alive (because I assumed Alec was still writing/publishing into the 60s, as we saw him at his desk) but according to Wiki, his last novel was published in 1940. So what the hell did he do for the next 20 years? How did he help support any of these families? Man, what a jerk.