# Every known fact about Cecil Adams **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 31, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684 "2007-10-31T06:43:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/21 "2007-11-01T04:21:31Z")
[QUOTE=MacTech] Darn, I was hoping this was more along the lines of the “Facts about Chuck Norris” and/or Vin Diesel thread… [/QUOTE] [Well, there was this from a few years ago…](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333927) Not _exactly_ what you were looking for, I suppose, but indeed each of those facts has been verified by three journalist sources, a doctor, and a Vatican Jew. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/22 "2007-11-01T10:15:42Z")
Maybe “Mrs. Adams” is his mother. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/23 "2007-11-01T17:47:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe “Mrs. Adams” is his mother. In the answer quoted above, he describes her as a former woman friend who later became Mrs Adams, so that rules out her being his mother. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/24 "2007-11-01T19:00:43Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] In the answer quoted above, he describes her as a former woman friend who later became Mrs Adams, so that rules out her being his mother. [/QUOTE] What if his father remarried? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/25 "2007-11-01T19:04:50Z")
[How come the U.S. uses 120 volt electricity, not 240 like the rest of the world? (20-Nov-1992)](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_292.html) “Three-phase power is used primarily in commercial applications, not homes. **When I was an electrician’s apprentice** , I remember we installed it in a garment factory for use with portable electric cloth cutters.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/26 "2007-11-01T19:45:24Z")
In addition to such jobs as machinist’s helper and electrician’s apprentice, Cecil’s been an on-air radio host. [What are the three English words ending in -gry?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_251.html) (from 19 Aug 1988) gives us at least one cite of Cecil’s days of hosting a Straight Dope style radio show: > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > Every time I go on the radio I know this one’s bound to come up sooner or later… There are other examples of Cecil’s on-air activities in a number of early columns; this is the one I found first. Anyway, if he was a radio host, his voice must have been heard by some of the Teeming Millions. So has anybody heard it? ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/27 "2007-11-01T20:17:12Z")
[QUOTE=Chrismoody] Sorry if this has already been done.. Just a curious longtime reader of his column looking for the straight dope. [/QUOTE] Hi, **Chrismoody** , welcome to the SDMB! Here are a couple of old threads on the subject: From 2002: [What We Know About Cecil](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=128098). From 2004: [What do we know about Cecil?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267014) ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/28 "2007-11-01T20:19:35Z")
He has been threatened with a gun at least once; in one column, he talks about staring down the wrong end of a gun. Can’t find the cite at the moment, though. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/29 "2007-11-01T20:24:37Z")
I’m not sure if anybody really wants to know this , but Cecil has revealed certain information about his wife’s , umm… [circumferential measurements,](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_319.html) and how they affect her ability to run. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/30 "2007-11-01T20:28:06Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not sure if anybody really wants to know this , but Cecil has revealed certain information about his wife’s , umm… circumferential measurements, and how they affect her ability to run. We know it. Look at #7. This bit of info surfaced in one of the earlier threads, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/31 "2007-11-01T20:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > What if his father remarried? Then Mrs Adams would be his stepmother not his mother. Nobody would describe their own mother as having been a “woman friend” they knew. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/32 "2007-11-01T21:06:43Z")
I infer, by the end of this report, Unca Cece is probably Pro-Life: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020405.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020405.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/33 "2007-11-01T21:12:15Z")
Found the gun quote; it’s at the end of the “who has jurisdiction” column about city, county and state cops: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_146.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_146.html). The quote is: “Having faced the wrong end of a six-shooter in my day (no joke), I must say they confer considerable powers of persuasion.” ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/34 "2007-11-01T22:12:42Z")
In addition to nearly destroying a building with a crane, Cecil had a high school teacher who caused a colossal mess out in the yard by goofing up an ill-conceived train switching maneuver called a [flying switch.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_402b.html) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/35 "2007-11-01T23:01:38Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] . . . From 1982, so Mrs. Adams (or a predecessor) was born in 1953. [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_064a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_064a.html) [/QUOTE] Or maybe not. Men of a certain age and persuasion often refer to the Mrs. as being 29 in perpetuum. Especially when referring to them in print. This is gallant, it prevents the quote from being inaccurate when read years later, and it saves one the trouble of actually counting up someone’s age. So it’s a threefer. Here in the office we recently celebrated an “anniversary of his 39th birthday”, rather than having to request a personnel file and do the math. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/36 "2007-11-02T00:52:36Z")
At one point, he took a college course from Northwestern professor/1950s TV personality Bergen Evans: [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051014.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051014.html) [This site identifies Evans as retiring in 1974, which, in turn, implies that Cecil is at least fifty years old](http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:8IdlVRgPeV0J:www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/findingaids/bergen_evans.pdf+%22Bergen+Evans%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/37 "2007-11-02T01:02:00Z")
[Lost his virginity in college.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_207.html): > [@](#): > > All in all it makes me think my first time during college maybe wasn’t so bad. From 1992. Incidentally, he went to college. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/38 "2007-11-26T17:39:40Z")
So, there I was, minding my own business, reading [today’s column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_136.html)when I came across the following quote: > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > It is one of the regrets of my life that I didn’t get a chance to go, but I did read the story about it in the Washington Post. Said story was written by \*\*_my old college roommate Steve_. \*\* I’m not saying I arranged this. But my operatives are well-placed. This got me to wondering so I looked up [the news article mentioned](http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73893736.html?dids=73893736:73893736&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Aug+18%2C+1989&author=Steve+Twomey&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=c.01&desc=It%27s+Only+a+Short+Hop+to+Nirvana+%3BFlying+Contest+Marks+30+Years+of+International+TM+Conventions) and found that it was written by one mister **Steve Twomey**. Prior to writing for The Washington Post, Mr. Twomey wrote for [The Philadelphia Inquirer](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/02/metro/metro_twomey022802.htm) where he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1987. Looking up \*\*Steve Twomey \*\* on [Who’s Who of Pulitzer Prize Winners](http://books.google.com/books?id=63nvmt4HqTEC&pg=PA218&lpg=PA218&dq=steve+twomey+pulitzer&source=web&ots=VmtlN4jgG7&sig=3b7ArCMG8hAwbYCb1MeWJcWZmhI) revieled the following information: > [@](#): > > Stephen M. Twomey > Birth: May 30, 1951; Niles MI. > Education: Northwestern University, IL (possibly 1969 – 1972) > Currently 56 years old This puts Cecil Adams, if he was indeed a former roommate of \*\*Steve Twomey \*\* (and I have no reason to doubt that he was) in the 56 year old bracket, an attendee of \*\*Northwestern University \*\* (which I think has been mentioned elsewhere) and quite the prodigy as it seems he may have started writing this column when he was 22. I did not, however, find Mr. Twomey’s phone number because 1. That would be going too far in my book. 2. He is probably covered under the same **NDA** as the Admins on this board. 3. Hi Opal. 4. I’m just too damned lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/39 "2007-11-26T17:47:17Z")
According to his [MySpace page](http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=55888255&MyToken=5f4b72ac-587e-45c0-afa6-7150cbf04986) he is 62 years old, married, and a Leo. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684/40 "2007-11-26T19:45:21Z")
Cecil [once addressed a Mensa convention](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_112.html). From the linked 1988 column: > [@](#): > > I’m troubled by the expiration date on the enclosed M&M wrapper. As you can see, it says: > > 19 DEC 88 > 805 AM > > My question is, what happens at 8:06? --Barry M., Chicago > > [Cecil responds, in part:] > > While addressing a Mensa convention the other day (really), Cecil told the story of the letter about the M&M expiration date, concluding with the plaintive question, “what happens at 8:06?” From the back of the room someone promptly shot back the obvious answer: “They melt in your hand.” Given that this would have happened 20 years ago, it seems improbable that Cecil addressed them via remote hookup. And it’s also hard for me to believe that some guy claiming to be Cecil Adams addressed a Mensa convention while wearing a mask or hood, without word getting around about it. Maybe, just maybe, Cecil makes shit up about himself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-known-fact-about-cecil-adams/424684.md?page=3)