From sinner to saint

Recently Twomorrows Publishing had a big sale from which I bought several old issues of Alter Ego and Back Issue magazines.  These were from several years ago and relate to the comic book industry.  Within there are several interviews with or about comic creators and editors who have since died.  Reading the old articles some of these people were mean, arrogant SOBs who never failed to try to take credit for others work or disparage others achievements. 

But following their deaths an amazing thing happened: they have been sainted!  They are now looked back on with deep love and affection, even admiration.

Without getting into the names of the individuals (which serves no purpose other than create controversy), how does one go from scoundrel to hero just through the act of dying?  I don't buy it and I feel it is the height of hypocrisy.

When I was a program director in radio I worked with a sportscaster who was a backstabbing, arrogant jerk who left many damaged careers in his wake.  He died unexpectedly.  Many of those who most despised him rushed to praise him.   I couldn’t do it and I volunteered to remain at the station on the air during the funeral so everyone else could attend. The sales manager, who I rarely agreed with on company issues, also felt the way I did and stayed behind to man the front desk.  We just couldn't see pretending to respect a man who deserved no respect.

Am I wrong in feeling that these post-death transformations are hypocritical?  I am not saying people should attack the deceased, but at least don't ignore the truth.

Name game

I was named after my grandfather and my father. I am proud of that. I have a distinctive middle name, and a fairly common first name, William. But it is a name that has caused confusion for some people.

Though my name is William, the only people who called me that when I was young were teachers on the first day of school. They would then ask me if I went by William or Bill. And I told them I went by Bill. That is what my family and friends always called me. It is on my earliest writings and on old books that I received as gifts. It was the name I went by until my final year of high school.

So why did I no longer want to be called Bill? Well, to be blunt I always thought it was a very bland, boring name. Bill just creates no sparks for me. Yes, I know that people like Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton were very successful by using the name Bill. But to me, even as a young kid I thought it was not an exciting or memorable name.

So in high school I started to think about my future. I had decided I wanted to be a radio disc jockey and a writer. And I felt that the name Bill just didn't make it as a good name in either field. Plus William was way too formal. But I really liked the name Will. It was not very common as a nickname then. It was considered more of an “old west” or rural name. But it reminded me of several people who were highly respected in the fields that I wanted to pursue. Will Rogers was still famous as a beloved writer and performer from the first half of the century. He was thought to be one of the wittiest comics around (and he was good with a rope). And for my immediate plans two of the top disc jockeys in Salt Lake City at the time used the name Will on the air: Will Lucas and Will Wright. So I decided to start using the named Will rather than Bill.

I first used it when I was writing and editing for my high school newspaper. All my bylines were credited to Will Hansen. All my classmates still called me Bill, but I felt that I was beginning the switch. The real change began when I got my first radio job and called myself Will on the air and introduced myself to my co-workers as Will. In my professional life I was now Will. As I moved away from my hometown to work at radio stations, everyone at work and outside work knew me as Will. The only time I heard the name Bill was when a relative contacted me or I met someone I knew from my schooldays (very rarely). Over the years as I continued to work in radio and and all my written communication with my family was signed Will most of my family started to call me Will.

Through my years since radio until now I have always been known as Will. No one who has met me in the last 38 years calls me anything else. Which is how I like it.

There were (are) a few holdouts. My father until he passed away would go back and forth between Bill and Will. Fathers get that right. A few others seem to have difficulty with change, even change that took place almost four decades ago.

It is now a sure sign to me when someone calls me Bill on the phone it is someone who doesn't know me or is trying to sell me something. It is nice to have an early warning sign. I often get asked whether I prefer William or Bill. I have to tell them I prefer a third option, Will. It's a good strong name that has given me humorous material for years (“Fire at Will”, “Willpower”, “Where there's a Will, there's a way”etc.).

And it is what powers the Green Lantern's power ring. Let's see Bill do that.