(In an article in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer, reporter Michael Heaton offered the following description of Milan. The drawing which appears at the right was done by Ted Crow and accompanied the article.)

Pronunciation of Name: MY-lan YOCK-o-vitch.

Parents: Louis and Marijanna Jacovich, emigrees from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Both deceased.

Name of Detective Agency: Milan Security.

Location of Office: On the west side of the Flats in a (nonexistent) building right next to what used to be Jim’s Steak House.

Residence: Cedar-Fairmount, where, for the first six novels, he maintained his business as well. He can see the Mad Greek restaurant from his apartment window.

Marital Status: Divorced from Lila Coso Jacovich.

Children: Milan Jr. and Stephen Louis Jacovich.

Age: Mid-40s. Originally, he was an MP at Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. But as the series went on, that would have aged him too much, so the reference was phased out.

Physical Description: 6 feet 3 inches, 230 pounds. Hair is light brown and disappearing. Slavic cheekbones. Space between his two front teeth (so he can smile at someone and spit in the their eye at the same time).

Education: St. Clair High School, Cleveland (fictional) and Kent State University.

Best Friends: Ed Stahl, cantakerous columnist for the Plain Dealer. Marko Meglich, high school and college chum and a lieutenant with the Cleveland Police Department Homicide Division.

Girlfriends: Major relationships include Mary Soderbergh (TV sales executive), Dr. Nicole Archer (neonatologist), Connie Haley (restaurant owner). Fleeting relationships include Kellen Charles (community activist), Shoshanna Bauch (attorney), Catherine “Cat” McTighe (human-resources director), and Cathleen Hartigan (attorney, unconsummated).

Cases Solved: 14 in 13 books. (The Indian Sign gave him two cases at once.)

Times Shot: Two.

Times Beaten Up: Two.

Fistfights: Two serious fights, several minor skirmishes.

Favorite Food: Klobasa (that’s how Slovenians spell “kielbasa”).

Beverage of Choice: Stroh’s beer, no glass.

Favorite Bars: Nighttown in Cleveland Heights, the Velvet Tango Room in Cleveland, and Vuk’s Tavern (fictional) on E. 55th Street and St. Clair Avenue.

Favorite Restaurants: Most of the restaurants in which he dined in the early books are now, sadly, closed. However, he’s been to Giovanni’s Ristorante in Beachwood, Johnny’s Bar on Fulton and Jack’s Deli in South Euclid several times each.

Habitual Doodle While Talking on the Phone: A gallows with an empty noose.

Pet Peeves: Pittsburgh Steelers; being called “Dude.”

Resemblance to Author: None.