# Cecil must have corrected this by now **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 15, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882 "2004-11-15T17:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![daddydee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@daddydee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daddydee)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/1 "2004-11-15T17:26:14Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_316.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_316.html) In this article, Cecil states that Jerry Mathers “Leave it to Beaver” was killed in Viet Nam. I’ve been unable to locate the Cecil’s correction, which must exist… but did locate confirmation that Jerry Mathers was not killed in Viet Nam, though notes the rumor. Check it out: [http://www.jerrymathers.tv/bio.htm](http://www.jerrymathers.tv/bio.htm) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/2 "2004-11-15T17:31:17Z")
I think Cecil might have been joking. You’ll notice that the column is about screwball interpretations of the lyrics, so maybe he just threw in a screwball “fact” for good measure. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/3 "2004-11-15T17:31:23Z")
Um, you do realize that Cecil was joking, right? ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/4 "2004-11-15T17:32:55Z")
**daddydee** , this comes up a few times a year. Cecil was making a joke about urban legends. Bob Denver and Paul McCartney are both alive, too, though somehow no one ever seems to mention that. Regards, ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/5 "2004-11-15T17:34:44Z")
Darn, beaten by seconds. I was that close… Anyways, there are several references to other supposedly dead people (Bob Denver and Paul McCartney) in the same part of the column. It’s part of the wry, sardonic wit of one Cecil Adams. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/6 "2004-11-16T00:08:08Z")
> [@Rube E. Tewesday](#): > > **daddydee** , this comes up a few times a year. Cecil was making a joke about urban legends. Bob Denver and Paul McCartney are both alive, too, though somehow no one ever seems to mention that. > > Regards, Sheesh, **Rube** , where you been? Don’t you know that [Paul is Dead](http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Beatles/Paul/Abbey.php)? ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/7 "2004-11-16T03:47:40Z")
One of the first urban legends I heard as a kid. I was skeptical even then. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/8 "2004-11-16T03:58:04Z")
I guess we all know that if Ringo dies next, the headline will be “Everybody But Paul is Dead.” (I’d love to turn you on!) ---
**Author:** ![TheHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@TheHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheHawk)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/9 "2004-11-16T15:05:12Z")
You mean… Paul’s ALIVE??? ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecil-must-have-corrected-this-by-now/274882/10 "2004-11-22T17:17:31Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It’s part of the wry, sardonic wit of one Cecil Adams. What, it’s part of just \*one \* Cecil Adams and not of the \*other \* Cecil Adamses? I think the Chicago Reader probably has a memo somewhere that spells out the “sardonic wit” of the Cecils.