I’ve now lived “on the beach” for 34 years. Arrived in 1977 and taught school on the peninsula for 29 of my 31 years in the classroom. Now several times every day I run into people I taught, or their parents. Most of them still call me “Ms. B.”
But for a brief period of time in the 80s—let’s say seven years and 24 days—I went by a different last name. Yes, it’s true, this dyed-in-the-wool free-thinker actually lost her mind for a brief period of time and took a man’s last name when she wed. We’ll call it temporary insanity.
My birth name (it’s time we got rid of that archaic misnomer “maiden name”), the name I was born with, is the name I will use the rest of my life, regardless of my marital circumstances. I still don’t know what I was thinking when I said “I do.” Changing it back took no less than 65 separate “applications” and many months of my time.
Today I’m quite happy to be “Ms. B,” and even happier to put myself out there as www.JanBonoBooks.com. Commerically, it’s called branding, and name recognition is a sought-after commodity in the marketplace. My name—my birth name—is slowly starting to mean something in writers’ circles.
Someday, I plan for my Jan Bono author’s autograph to be highly sought-after. In libraries, my books will alphabetically come right after those of Dave Barry, Tom Bodett, and Erma Bombeck. That’s the plan, and I’m sticking to it.
And Bernie Schwartz? Well, unlike me, he decided his own name wasn’t the one he wanted to see in lights, so he changed it. Just like Marion Morrison, Mel Kaminsky, Nathan Birnbaum, Margaret Hyra, Caryn Johnson, and Tom Mapother.
Google “50 Celebrities’ Real Names” and you’ll be there all day… laughing!