In Other Words...

What's in a Name?

Gary Allen's avatar
Gary Allen
Aug 30, 2022
∙ Paid

Twelve years ago, this month, I lost my father. He’d been recovering from surgery, and was doing well, when he suddenly died without warning. He was, as everyone always said, the nicest of men. He was so nice that others bestowed upon him a variety of pet names.

His given name—the one on his birth certificate—followed a common pattern in Texas: start off…

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