On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

i just heard something just now that the author of child of god or preallty hopes.
had to change his first name so he would not get confused or connect to a type of dummy.
Is that true

This was last night's Final Jeopardy clue, which was:

"This Pulitzer winner changed his first name to that of an Irish king, avoiding associations with a famous ventriloquist’s dummy."

The answer: Cormac McCarthy. Edgar Bergen, a ventriloquist and frequent guest on the Ed Sullivan Show when I was growing up had a dummy sidekick named Charlie McCarthy.

Thanks, John. I could not think of that dummy's name to save my life. That is one final jeopardy question I wouldn't have gotten in a million years.

Diane wrote: "Thanks, John. I could not think of that dummy's name to save my life. That is one final jeopardy question I wouldn't have gotten in a million years."

I didn't either until I heard the name and remembered. Recognition is always easier than recall.

Do you ever read Linda Fairstein's mysteries? The main character, a Manhattan ADA & her detective co-worker frequently bet on the Final Jeopardy answer.

When I was having my second child, I was watching Jeopardy while I waited for the surgical team to take me in for a C-section. My daughter was 10 1/2 lbs & breech. They started to take me out just before the Final Jeopardy question and I kept trying to delay them...I wanted to finish the game. ;-)

On "Cheers" Cliff Clavin was a contestant on Jeopardy. He has a huge lead going into Final Jeopardy. He bets it all.

Clue: Lucille LeSueur, Archibald Leach, Bernard Schwartz

Cliff's answer: Three people who have never been in my kitchen.

Well, let's see, Cary Grant & Tony Curtis...

Had to look up Lucille, knew the other 2...Joan Crawford.

Thought it was "never been in my kitchen".

Kim wrote: "Thought it was "never been in my kitchen"."

They've never been in my kitchen either.

Of course us readers are probably all Jeopardy fans. Kim, can sympathise with the labor story. They couldn't give you another 5 minutes?

Apparently not. Then they got me in there and talked about their dogs over my head. Had my arms tied down and my nose became terribly itchy, so I asked where my husband was, & John came in thinking I was anxious. I asked him to scratch my nose, heaven! It was like I only existed from the waist down in there.

Kim wrote: "Apparently not. Then they got me in there and talked about their dogs over my head. Had my arms tied down and my nose became terribly itchy, so I asked where my husband was, & John came in thinking..."

So did you end up naming your daughter in the form of a question?

Nope. Named her Victoria Claire, call her Tory, which was a little strange when we lived in England. (Nickname for political party is actually from an island off the coast of Ireland which was a hideout for pirates, thus Tories are considered to be pirates. ;-))

Kim wrote: "Nope. Named her Victoria Claire, call her Tory, which was a little strange when we lived in England. (Nickname for political party is actually from an island off the coast of Ireland which was a hi..."

I get it.

That appears to be another one of the odd similarities between us. Our second daughter is named Marley Claire. Her favorite pastime this summer is watching and re-watching the PBS series Victoria.