Forrester's life involved spying on others, watching and studying birds, drinking heavily and writing words that no-one else would ever read. He had taken the bell out of his telephone twenty years ago and had not received a single phone call in six months. His only visitor was a man who came to drop off his groceries. He wasn't a happy man and he didn't want to live anymore.
In reading the notebooks in the backpack that Jamal left behind after breaking into his house, William learns that this boy has some talent in writing.
He begins to take an interest in Jamal, he watches him leave from the window of his apartment and watches him as he plays Basketball and talks with the man from Mallor Callow. When Jamal leaves Forrester's house the first time after getting his five thousand words back, Forrester knows that Jamal will come back but he doesn't realise that a friendship develop and that this young man will help him rekindle some long forgotten dreams.
Jamal sees Forrester as a mentor and as a friend. He looks after him. When he's asleep he finds a blanket for him and he takes him out for his birthday. Jamal knows that Forrester has lead a fairly lonely life. He doesn't force Forrester to tell him about himself or why there wasn't a second book. He doesn't judge Forrester for his choices in not writing another book or living life the way he does. Jamal also doesn't try to tell Forrester what he thinks Avalon Landing is about. Forrester knows how superior his novel is. He knows how successful it is and how popular