Who is Manny Cooper from After the Rain and what is their importance?

Manny Cooper is Rachel's father. He is described as a soft, round, kind, unfailingly optimistic man. An accountant, he gives Rachel pocket money in the summer for filing and cleaning up in his office. He forgets slights and dwells on the positive. Rachel believes that if people were animals, her father would be a whale--a kind, friendly whale. Manny's calm, sunny nature is a great counterpoint to Shirley's nervous personality.