ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 21, 1993                   TAG: 9312210037
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Paul Dellinger
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Names throughout history have ranged from a single word (the Bible provides many examples) to three (Gaius Julius Caesar). Sometimes the numbers have varied from one reference to another, such as John F. Kennedy or Jack Kennedy. J. Edgar Hoover was always a threesome, Ronald Reagan a twosome. James Earl Carter, better known as Jimmy, probably did as much as anyone in recent decades to promote informality among news-making names.

We are also allowed to change names legally, which is why we have Roy Rogers and Dale Evans instead of Leonard Slye and Frances Smith, among others.

In news columns, middle initials or full names turn up mostly where people are involved in police matters, to lessen the possibility of confusing them with others with similar names. Elsewhere, the general trend these days is just first and last names.

For months and in some cases for years, we had been referring to various Pulaski County officials more formally than they would have wanted, as it turned out: Superintendent of Schools William Asbury, Pulaski County Administrator Joseph Morgan, Pulaski Town Manager Thomas Combiths. It turned out, when they were finally asked, that they preferred Bill, Joe and Tom, which is how they have been in print lately.

When someone simply has no preference, it can get confusing. The busy director of the Southwest Virginia Governor's School is Margaret Duncan, called "Pat" by most acquaintances. She has shown up as Margaret Duncan, Pat Duncan and Margaret "Pat" Duncan.

Pulaski County's Circuit Court clerk has been Glenwood, R. Glenwood and Woody Lookabill in print, but we seem finally to have settled on Woody.

It is probably best for people who find themselves mentioned frequently in news columns to put aside their modesty and state a preference, if they have one. Of course, there was one Pulaski County official who said his preference would be to not be mentioned at all.

Paul Dellinger covers Pulaski County for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau. 


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