The "24" Iowa Writers' Workshop connection

Tom Snee, a longtime reader who works at the University of Iowa, writes this morning on the heels of the first four hours of "24" this season: "It's been driving me nuts the last two seasons to know if Ethan Kanin, the chief of staff on '24,' is named after Ethan Canin, the author and faculty member at the Iowa Writers' Workshop."

Finally, we can put this matter to rest, because I just walked up to the show's chief poobah, executive producer Howard Gordon, and asked him.

"Yes," said Gordon, "he's an old friend. In fact, I got an email from him this morning -- he said 'Thanks for the fame. If I can't get it from my own writing, I'll get it through yours!'"