chunk: Barer, an Edgar Award winner, profiles Champagne in Man Overboard. The first page of the book includes a synopsis of how the new identity began:
  "Phil Champagne died Aug. 31, 1982, in a tragic boating accident off Lopez Island, Washington. He was 52. Champagne was survived by his wife of 28 years, four grown children, an octogenarian mother and two despondent brothers. Phil didnât know he was dead until he read it in the paper. All things considered, he took it pretty well."