BY MAGGIE BEAMGUARD
Editor
By my estimation, I complete 70-90 interviews each year for the Seven Lakes Insider. The first, and most important, job of an interviewer is to confirm the spelling of people’s names.
I can think of no other worse mistake than incorrectly putting someone’s name in print. When it happens — and since I’m human and not AI, it does happen — no profuse apology or offer of printed correction can undo the indignity. As a writer, I feel a fiery sense of shame.
So I always ask, “Is that Jon or John? Jeff or Geoff? Tristan or Tryston? Nanci or Nancy? Jane or Jayne? Norah or Nora?” Vowel combinations, along with tricky consonants which can be silent, hard or soft, sometimes deceive.
Then there are nicknames. I’ve always been called Maggie (that’s with an “ie” not a “y”). But my birth certificate reads “Margaret.” In fifth grade, I decided it was time to demonstrate my maturity by using my official name.
“Margaret” sounded so dignified to 10-year-old ears. My name had three syllables! I inscribed every assignment from Mrs. Moore with M-a-r-g-a-r-e-t at the top.
This experiment lasted until Christmas break. The two extra letters created too much effort on my part.
Nicknames and formal names can also confound.
My sister, Caroline with a “C,” spent four years studying architecture at Clemson University with a colossal guy aptly named Moose. Talking to Moose over 80’s metal music at Nick’s bar, she asked him if she knew Michael Edison. She heard Michael was driving to Greenville, and she was looking for a ride to town.
Banging his head to the music, he said “that’s me.” She proceeded to argue with him. “No, you are Moose.”
He insisted, “I’m Michael.” Stumped that this lumbering fella had such a conventional name, she would not be convinced until he whipped out his driver’s license to prove it. She secured a ride with Michael, but Caroline would always call him Moose.
So what should a reporter do when friends widely know “Dave,” but his business card reads “David?”
I once asked an interviewee if he preferred his formal name or nickname to appear in print. At first, he said it didn’t matter, which left me in the precarious position of deciding what to call this individual.
Then wisdom prevailed. “My mom might read this,” he said, “so maybe we should use my real name.”
Our names are the first gift our parents give us. It’s also the first word we learn to write. As the most basic fact about us, it’s a delight to see our name in print.
“How do you spell your name,” is the first question I ask. It’s not always a straight forward answer. For instance, I am also known by the names Magpie, Maggie May, Wake up Maggie (sung a la Rod Stewart), Marguerita, Mother, and simply The Mag.
These don’t convey well to a byline, but they identify parts of me. It was Shakespeare’s Juliette after all who said to Romeo, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Capturing someone’s essence in an article starts with getting the name right. But that’s just the beginning.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
