Oh, that guy is as real as Jeanne Phillips.
Certainly he’s real. He does write the columns after all. They don’t write themselves.
Cecil should not be thought of as a person per se, but rather a force of nature.
In a more worldly plane, the introduction of The Straight Dope: A Compendium of Human Knowlege (1984), states that Ed Zotti became Cecil’s editor in 1978. Previous holders of that post were Dave Kehr and Mike Lenehan. The book is dedicated to (among others), “Mike, Dave and Ed, who slaved over my copy as if it were their own.”
So, you’re saying he’s the dread pirate Roberts??
The American Bar Association does not administer bar exams to goats.
Reptiles are another matter.
Cecil posts, therefore he is. Unless he’s a sock puppet. But sock puppets are not allowed here, so Cecil must be. Quod erat demonstratum.