# Poundstone, Zotti, and Adams **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 13, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751 "2003-02-13T03:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 13, 2003, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/1 "2003-02-13T03:37:57Z")
What evidence did William Poundstone, author of the “(insert word here) Secrets” books, have to prove that Ed Zotti and Cecil Adams were the same person? He claimed it in his (I believe) “Biggest Secrets” book, but didn’t have any backing evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/2 "2003-02-13T03:43:23Z")
I seem to recall he found a pic of Zotti labeled as Adams, or maybe it was vice-versa. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/3 "2003-02-13T03:46:18Z")
No, the picture you’re thinking about didn’t come out until several years after the book I’m thinking about was published. I believe it had to do with the fact that Zotti does all of Cecil’s publicity apperances, plus the fact that Ed wrote the Straight Dope book for children. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/4 "2003-02-13T03:51:59Z")
This issue has been dealt with many many times on these boards. I believe the most conclusive evidence was brought out in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=75222) thread, most notably by a poster known then as **frogstein** (currently **Running with Scissors** ). It has always appeared to me (as noted therein) that the thing is only a half secret, and I’ve seen recent administration comments along those lines as well. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/5 "2003-02-13T03:55:57Z")
Years ago (ca. 1994) I heard Cecil doing a radio interview/phone-in with KRLD, the local AM radio news show. Obviously, if Cecil was Ed, he couldn’t have done the show, could he? I tried to call, but I couldn’t get through. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/6 "2003-02-13T04:06:34Z")
**minty** , Ed does the radio shows. In all seriousness, this is not a legitimate question. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/7 "2003-02-13T04:08:42Z")
Alright, then I’ll go to a topic I’m running on another board. Who was the richest TV producer of all time, and how many TV producers were on the Forbes 400 list between 1982 and today? ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/8 "2003-02-13T04:09:39Z")
Nope. The host clearly said it was Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/9 "2003-02-13T04:17:12Z")
**minty** I didn’t mean that your point was not legitimate - rather that there is not legitimate doubt that Ed is Cecil. But you are also wrong. If you would read the linked thread (worthwhile in any event) you will see that **handy** posted some sort of government filing which declares that Cecil Adams is not a real person. So obviously your host was merely using the pseudenym. [Fixed coding. – MEB] ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/10 "2003-02-13T04:27:02Z")
Bah! Heresy! Blasphemy! Slander! Sacrilege! Counter-revol–well, wait, I guess that one doesn’t really work. Would Cecil _lie_? Of course not! ([The Straight Dope Faq: Who Is This Man Called Cecil Adams?:2](http://www.straightdope.com/faq/officialfaq.html)) Also, I have personally spoken with Ed Zotti, and heard him with my own ears refer to Cecil in the third person. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/11 "2003-02-13T04:27:32Z")
Ed says that Poundstone gave him so much whiskey, he would have confessed to being the long lost Dauphin. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/12 "2003-02-13T04:32:44Z")
Also, when the hosts and the guests said hello to Cecil, Cecil responded to them. It was very touching. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/13 "2003-02-13T05:03:46Z")
Here’s your proof: ED ZOTTI = IZ T TOED Clearly, Ed Zotti “is the toady” of Cecil Adams. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/14 "2003-02-13T05:29:31Z")
> [@](#): > > you will see that handy posted some sort of government filing which declares that Cecil Adams is not a real person. Boy, that convinces me right there. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ☹ Your government never lies and always gets it right? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/15 "2003-02-13T13:05:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > \*\*Boy, that convinces me right there. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ☹ > > Your government never lies and always gets it right? :eek: \*\* Ummm…the “government” didn’t make the filing, IIRC. The Reader filed that Cecil Adams was a fictional character. Why are people so obsessed about a screen name anyhow? 99% of the people here aren’t posting under their real names anyways. The fact that Ed == Cecil should not diminish either of them; rather, it should elevate both of them. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/16 "2003-02-13T14:34:34Z")
Were it not true, I suppose Cecil could’ve sued Poundstone! ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/17 "2003-02-13T15:10:19Z")
What, being called the world’s smartest person is libel? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/18 "2003-02-13T15:46:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samclem \* > Boy, that convinces me right there. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ☹ > > Your government never lies and always gets it right? :eek: As noted by Anthracite, the filing was _with_ the government, _by_ the Chicago Reader. I looked around a bit and couldn’t find the actual stuff posted by handy on the net. But it would seem to have been an application for a trademark on the name which was rejected, as noted [here](http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmep/1200.htm) (section 1202.09). Anyway, the idea of some govenrment conspiracy to conceal the fact that Cecil Adams is a real person is laughable. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > Why are people so obsessed about a screen name anyhow? 99% of the people here aren’t posting under their real names anyways. I would guess that its because people have this mythical view of Cecil as this distant all-seeing all-knowing genius. Zotti, by contrast, posts here in a mundane administrative role, and is frequently second guessed to boot. The idea that Cecil is none other than Zotti would detract from his heroic image. **MEBuckner:** thanks for the edit! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/19 "2003-02-13T15:55:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by IzzyR \* > **Anyway, the idea of some govenrment conspiracy to conceal the fact that Cecil Adams is a real person is laughable.** On the contrary, **IzzyR**. It is absolutely in the governments interest in these terrible times to obscure the facts about Cecil’s existence. After all, if it was surely known that Cecil exists, and where he bases his opertations, the Iraqis and Al Qieda would have all their agents out in the field to try and kidnap him. They would then use his awesome brain power to power nuclear plants, formulate strategies for use against the West and invent no-cal pizza and keep the patent for themselves, thus depriving all Americans of thier true God-given birthright (the ability to eat pizza without getting fat). Thus, it is a vital national concern to obfuscate, obscure and otherwise weave a web of deception around the mystery of Cecil’s existence and identity. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751/20 "2003-02-13T15:58:08Z")
If I say that Poundstones books are better than Cecil’s am I helping the terrorists? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poundstone-zotti-and-adams/154751.md?page=2)