A few of the new kids think he even put himself into the game, not realizing that his character was in the game books long before he started writing for Shadowrun. We correct them politely.
A number of 'old' characters are nods to players; I even got put into something somewhere, misremember where. I find myself wondering, however, where exactly Bull got put into the game books before he started writing for the game.
He was active in the old UseNet boards, which even *I* can't claim, and I'm older'n dirt. He was a frequent chatter there, so as a 'thank you' to the fans, his screen name was one plucked to be used in a product. Patrick Goodman was added in a similar way (An author wanted a name, knew and liked Patrick, so gave him an in-game face as a gift), and James Meiers got a special token of thanks in the Big D's will. (And was later killed off because of it) ... writers do *not* put their own avatars in the game. Editorial would pull 'em out, and the rest of the gang would mercilessly pummel them. Seriously, if CanRay was in the books, you think the freelancers could stop themselves from abusing him in every product?
Personally, I'd love to see a little bit of that old giveback to the community at large, but, these days, RPG companies are owned by conglomerates, not three guys in a garage. There're legal hurdles, NDA agreements, copyright issues ... it makes it tricky.