No. The link pravnik provided is authoritative. It authoritatively states:
You can’t weasel around that. The court is paraphrasing a document submitted to it by the Chicago Reader, which would know because it is presumably paying everyone on its staff, which would include Cecil Adams if he were real.
Geeze c’mon Cecil show up and proclaim yourself!
Yes. I’ve provided information for several of Cecil’s columns, but have always been credited by name for any such material. Except for a joke he stole from me once.
It doesn’t say Ed Zotti is Cecil. He may be the most likely person and all available evidence may point that way, but it is not proven. Please don’t accuse me of “weasel(ing)” again.
For a while there you were making big contributions to the column so often I think you should have gotten equal billing with Cecil.
I still research things for Cecil all the time. I love working for the Straight Dope. And in a few weeks you’ll get to read about me burning bacon and pork chops with a Class IV laser.
Ed Zotti has written the columns bylined “Cecil Adams” for the last 30 years. The very earliest columns from the dawn of prehistory were written by other writers, but Ed’s been the writer for nearly forever. As for the notion that there’s a stable of writers for a weekly column, well, there’s barely enough work there for one dude, let alone several. How much money do you think this column brings in?
Because this is GQ, where anybody who is not you would be given a warning for posting like you do, weaseling, disingenuous, mocking, and holding back pertinent evidence.
Either you have a factual answer for this question or you should never post about it in GQ. There is no third option.
If I am wrong, provide evidence. That is how this message board works for everybody but you.
[Moderator Note]
Exapno Mapcase, as you well know, personal attacks are not allowed in GQ. Dial it back several notches.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Folks, all I’m saying is, the factual answer is that there are only a limited number of sources who can provide an authoritative response. Posting guesses is not providing factual answers, although it may be fun. The guesses may be highly informed and educated, and they may be spot-on, but they themselves are not proof. So the answer is “There is much evidence that Ed Zotti is in fact Cecil Adams, but it has not been conclusively proven.”
That’s as factual an answer as can be provided within General Questions unless there is first-hand testimony available. Since I’m pretty sure that will not be provided, there we are.
So? That wasn’t and isn’t the topic of the thread.
The topic of the thread is “Is there a Cecil Adams?”, which has been authoritatively answered in the negative by the document linked to by pravnik. That doesn’t speak to Zotti’s role in all this, but as that isn’t the topic of the thread that’s immaterial.
I’m pretty sure he is dead. It’s been 18 months since he last posted. Of course, he could be Rod Blagojevich and is otherwise occupied.
Perhaps Cecil Adams is Harold Washington, who just faked his death in 1987 in order to devote more time to the Straight Dope column.
Not so. Pravnik’s link, at most, establishes that around 1989 the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board thought that the Chicago Reader had told them that “Cecil Adams” did not refer to any particular individual. But this leaves open a number of possiblities.
The Chicago Reader was lying.
The Chicago Reader was not lying, but what they said is misrepresented in the Board’s account.
“Cecil Adams” did not refer to any particular individual in 1989, but it does now. And that individual may also have another name which he (or she) uses in other contexts. That other name may or may not be Ed Zotti.
But it seems to me that if Ed Zotti is Cecil Adams, that begs the question of who is Ed Zotti?
Seriously folks, which name sounds more like a pseudonym?
It is entirely consistent with what I have personally observed that Cecil Adams may very well be living under the name of “Ed Zotti” for tax purposes.
Just joking, but, does the name of the column tell us that Cecil is straight and a dope?
Dear DrFidelius,
You owe me a new laptop(almost!):D:D:
“Do you remember writing in your diary,” Dexter said, “that it did not matter whether I was a friend or an enemy, since I was at least a person who understood you and could be talked to? You were right, I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane. Before we bring the thread to an end, you can ask me a few questions, if you choose.”
“Any questions I like?”
“Anything.” He saw that Winston Smith’s eyes were upon the dial.
“Does Cecil Adams exist?”
“Of course he exists. The Straight Dope exists. Cecil Adams is the embodiment of the Straight Dope.”
“Does he exist in the same way as I exist?”
“It is of no importance. He exists.”
“Will Cecil Adams ever die?”
“Of course not. How could he die? Next question.”
“What is the origin of ‘the whole nine yards?’”
“That, Winston, you will never know. If we choose to give you free membership for life, and if you live to be ninety years old, still you will never learn the answer to that question. As long as you live it will be an unsolved riddle in your mind.” Winston lay silent. His breast rose and fell a little faster. He still had not asked the question that had come into his mind the first. He had got to ask it, and yet it was as though is tongue would not utter it. There was trace of amusement in O’Brien’s face. Even his spectacles seemed to wear an ironical gleam. He knows, thought Winston suddenly, he knows what I am going to ask! At the thought the words burst out of him:
“Has mankind ever visited the deepest part of the ocean?”
Dexter raised a finger to the man in the white coat. Evidently the thread was at an end. A needle jerked into Winston’s arm. He sank almost instantly into deep sleep.
How do we know Cecil isn’t a woman named Una? I’ve never seen you both in the same room.
In fact, I’ve never seen either of you in person (or in persson, for that matter). How do we know Una is real?
(AFAIK, septimus is the only Doper I’ve met in person and I’m even doubtful of his reality.)
Maybe he has never been invited to a Dopefest. It could be that simple.
Hey unca’ Cecil, I have an unopened bottle of 20 year old Glenmorangie I’m saving for my birthday this month, c’mon over.