 Dr. Jacoby is based on the late ethnobotanist, Terrence McKenna.  Their physical appearance is strikingly similar, their dress style  is similar and they are both in the liberal arts professions. Dr.  Jacoby holidays in Hawaii and has a Hawaiian wife, McKenna lived in  Hawaii. Dr. Jacoby has a notable mushroom shaped lamp, McKenna  studied and wrote widely on psychedelic mushroom culture.