# What We Know About Cecil **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 29, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396 "2002-07-29T17:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/1 "2002-07-29T17:19:25Z")
1. Cecil Adams is not his real name. 2. He knows everything. 3. He used to have a job fixing power tools(this was in an article about Philips Screws). Hmmm… let’s add more. Perhaps we can solve this mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/2 "2002-07-29T17:22:25Z")
1. He loves me best of all. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/3 "2002-07-29T18:53:45Z")
1. He’s left handed. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/4 "2002-07-29T18:57:55Z")
He has ham for Thanksgiving dinner… not Turkey!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/5 "2002-07-29T19:19:30Z")
I was gonna do this thread! Anyway: 1. He went to a parochial school. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_271.html)) 2. He went to high school with someone named Allen Jaglowski, who is now a Chicago homicide detective. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010413.html)) 3. He drives a stick shift. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980227.html)) 4. He’s Catholic. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990730a.html)) 5. He’s married. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_201.html)) 6. He has children (If I interpret the phrase “little researchers” correctly). ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a950428.html)) 7. He’s a baby boomer. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020712.html)) ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/6 "2002-07-29T19:57:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Myrnalene \* > \*\*4. He loves me best of all. \*\* cite? ---
**Author:** ![HoldenCaulfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/22d042/32.png) [@HoldenCaulfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldenCaulfield)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/7 "2002-07-29T20:03:20Z")
He posts as **Loopus** and has been dropping false hints in his columns to throw us off track… Whoops! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/8 "2002-07-29T20:21:53Z")
He is NOT David Feldman, but I think he IS L.M.Boyd. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/9 "2002-07-29T20:40:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colibri \* > \*\*5. He’s left handed. \*\* [cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_092.html) ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/10 "2002-07-29T21:24:49Z")
I don’t know if it is considered a canonical source, but the February, 1995 issue of _American Libraries_ carried an article by Paul S. Piper, “What makes Cecil Adams the World’s greatest reference librarian?”, and since I suspect few on this board have seen this article, I’ll review some of its highlights. (Piper claims that he was a “grade-school chum” of Cecil).[ul][_]"…his mother was reputed to be a school librarian in Chicago".[_]"…one of the beauties of his job is that he only needs to broadcast his successes, while the failures remain unanswered".[_]“He has been written up in the Wall Street Journal and People and has appeared on the Today show…” ([sic]–we all know of course that Cecil never makes personal appearances.)[_]“How did he get to this profession? Reportedly it was a divine calling, with the archetype of Cecil, a relative of the Norse god Odin, coming to him and commanding ‘take the helm’.”[_]“Cecil in his previous life had bouts as as electrician, journalist, and editor, and always dreamed of driving trains…”[_]"…while Cecil’s overall approach may reek of self-glorification and condesension, at heart his motives are purely altruistic."[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2002, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/11 "2002-07-29T21:30:41Z")
The above quote about the relative of Odin should read “coming to him _in a dream_”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/12 "2002-07-30T00:01:05Z")
While he does not appear on television, he does seem to appear on the radio. In the article where he answered the question, “What is the third word in the English language that ends with -gry,” he says that one always comes up when he is on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/13 "2002-07-30T00:23:42Z")
Oh, I forgot this as well. He seems to look down on the simplistic answers of David Feldman, who writes those (IMHO) pathetic “Why do Clocks run Clockwise?” books. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/14 "2003-07-08T00:22:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*Oh, I forgot this as well. > > He seems to look down on the simplistic answers of David Feldman, who writes those (IMHO) pathetic “Why do Clocks run Clockwise?” books. \*\* I’d like to challenge that claim. In the 7 references to Feldman in Cecil’s columns, 3 refer to Feldman as a friend, 3 don’t really adress this subject, and the 1 negative reference to Feldman, rather then commenting on being “simplistic”, ridicules Feldman for spending too much thought on a subject (the “shoes in the road column”). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/15 "2003-07-08T01:53:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whitetho \* > \*\* ([sic]–we all know of course that Cecil _never_ makes personal appearances.) \*\* In _The Return of the Straight Dope_, there’s a reference to Cecil Addressing a Mensa convention (“really”). This is where he tells the story about the expiration date on M&Ms. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/16 "2003-07-08T01:59:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by urban1z \* > \*\*He is NOT David Feldman, but I think he IS L.M.Boyd. \*\* No way. L. M. Boyd published far too much misinformation to be mentioned in the same breath as Uncle Cece. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/17 "2003-07-08T02:19:09Z")
1. He hates cats. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_009a.html)). 2. He had, um, an interesting sexual encounter with a girl in St. Louis in 1974. ([cite](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_060.html)) ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/18 "2003-07-08T02:32:16Z")
“Cecil” is not a person, but a trademark of the Chicago Reader. There has been more than one “Cecil.” (sort of like there has been more than one “Ann Landers”). I worked for the law firm that represented a former “Cecil” who tried to take the name with him when he left the Reader. He lost. I’ll look around to see if I can find a cite, but I think the case was settled before any litigation transpired. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/19 "2003-07-08T02:40:04Z")
Nooooo-ooooo! :o ---
**Author:** ![schplebordnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@schplebordnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schplebordnik)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396/20 "2003-07-08T03:00:05Z")
Here’s a little bit of support for the trademark thing: [http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=1h9a7v.4.3](http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=1h9a7v.4.3) Note the following: “CECIL ADAMS DOES NOT IDENTIFY ANY PARTICULAR INDIVIDUAL BUT WAS DEVISED AS A FANCIFUL NAME” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-we-know-about-cecil/121396.md?page=2)