And if not, anyone know what it was about? I’m curious as to what matter of universal significance was the catalyst that began this great journey. Was it man searching for meaning in life? An explanation of some outre scientific principle? Or something about why dogs like to sniff crotches?
IIRC, it was something about the B side of records. It took a few years for the Straight Dope to really hit its stride.
It’s interesting to read the little blurb about the Bryn Mawr Theater, a second-run theater that did land-office business with $0.60 admissions, and realize just how long before home theaters this column was written.
Also, it took Cecil a while to hone his wit:
What’s the difference?
Which was Ed Zotti’s first SD column?
I thought Ed and Cecil were the same person, or is that just a widely believed unverified rumor?
As I understand it, Ed is the second person to write SD as “Cecil Adams.”
Also, there’s no Santa Claus.
I thought Ed was the third editor.
Even then, Cecil’s notorious prophetic ability was evident:
From column: “where do you think the American Redneck Association holds its meetings, for example?”
From this cite:On Tuesday, September 06, 1994, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for ARA AMERICAN REDNECK ASSOCIATION
Column dated 1973, trademark registered 1994.
Cecil nailed it 21 years prior to it happening!
The latter. Those who insist upon pulling back the curtain, as it were, note that Ed is Cecil’s third editor.
Powers &8^]
He’s not called The Perfect Master for nothin’!
Interesting that Cecil was dispensing [del]insults[/del] witticisms from the beginning.
My copy of The Straight Dope (c. 1984, Chicago Reader) lists Cecil’s editors:
Mike Lenehan
Dave Kerr
Ed Zotti
Cecil graciously acknowledges them in the dedication: “My thanks to Mike, Dave and Ed, who slaved over my copy as if it were their own…”
Not to get all chicken-and-eggy here, but why did those first questioners write in if there was no column yet? Did the Reader run a blurb saying, “We’re planning this nifty column and if you send us a question we’ll send you a PL” for a few weeks beforehand?
I wouldn’t know the answer, but that’s one good guess; another is that people would just write in to the paper with questions, having no idea whether an answer was forthcoming. It seems kinda wacky to me (especially writing to the Reader), but I can easily imagine some few doing it.
Second editor was Dave Kehr, who moved on to the NY Times: Dave Kehr - The New York Times …
Apparently no further information exists about the third editor, who is believed to roam the underside of Chicago’s Els as a ghostly disreputable figure, asking tourists for spare change and answers to life’s ineffable questions. He has been arrested over 3,000 times but is always released back into the wild as no prisoner will share a cell with him. He is identifiable by the cartoon tattoos that cover his body, made by someone called “Slug.” Or perhaps depicting a slug. They are so poorly done that no one call tell which is true. He is not considered dangerous, except possibly to the truth. A Chicago legend, Mike Royko never did a column on him.