F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose full name is Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was named after his distant relative Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
F. Michael Berman, (that’s me for those among you who are, perhaps, less perceptive), has the same first initial and middle name of F, Michael Higginbotham, the Wilson H. Elkins Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is the author of Race Law: Cases, Commentary, and Questions, a copy of which costs $137.10 and a deluxe hardbound edition of F. Scotts The Great Gatsby goes for $15.39.
By using single copy price on Amazon.com as a measure of writing skill one can surmise that my namesake is the superior author, so I win.
(Wow, I just reread this whole post and it makes no sense whatsoever…I’m going with it anyway).
Side Note: In his book Ghosts of Jim Crow, F. Michael Higginbotham argues that despite Barack Obama’s election win, we’re far from that imagined equality utopia. Indeed, the shadows of Jim Crow era laws and attitudes continue to perpetuate systemic prejudice and racism in the 21st century. When I read this I dashed off a note to my name doppelganger:
Dear Professor Higginbotham:
No, duh!
F. Michael B