Tuckerization

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Tuckerization is the act of using a person's name in an original story as an in-joke (i.e. Mount Kirby in Kurt Busiek's Astro City comics). The term is derived from Wilson Tucker, a science fiction writer of the 1950s-1970s, who made a practice of using his friends' names for minor characters in his stories. A tuckerization can also be the use of a person's character or personal attributes with a new name as an in-joke (i.e. Ian Arnstein in S.M. Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time trilogy, clearly modeled on his good friend Harry Turtledove, albeit an alternate history Turtledove).

Many science fiction authors auction off tuckerizations at science fiction conventions with the proceeds going to charity.

Related to it is redshirting, where the character named after the real person is killed in some way. Many authors consider tuckerization and redshirting interchangeable; 'redshirted' characters do not necessarily die.

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