Last week I received an email from a fellow Newington resident and fan named Tony that read:
I have an oddball question for you that I’ve been thinking about for a long time – do you think you are the most famous current Newington resident? The reason this question occurred to me is that I was parked in front of Cugino’s one Saturday evening back in the spring, and I’m pretty sure you were parked next to me and were coming out of Goldburger’s with a to-go order. So I said to my wife, somewhat excitedly, “Hey, I think that is Matthew Dicks.” She said “Who?” and once I reminded her of who you are she remembered as she is also well aware of you.
Since then I have been trying to think of a more famous resident of our fair town.
The email made me chuckle, and I immediately assumed that there must be someone in Newington more famous than a guy who has published a couple of novels and writes a blog in his spare time.
But perhaps not. Since that day, I have yet to come up with a more famous Newington resident. And I’ve tried. If I’m the most famous person in Newington, what does this say about my town?
Quite an indictment. Huh?
So I leave it to you.
Is there someone more famous than me currently residing in Newington? I challenge you to find someone or support Tony’s assertion.
Oh, and there are rules, outlined by Tony.
He writes:
Famous” means on some national level. Someone like the mayor of Newington or a local newscaster who lives in Newington may be known of by more people, but it is very localized.
Also, I am defining famous to mean someone will recognize your name and will know what you are known for. They wouldn’t necessarily have to recognize you in person if they saw you, or know that you live in Newington. I’m not sure I’m totally comfortable with this qualifier, as you could easily argue that someone would have to be recognized in person. I would counter that many writers are famous without necessarily being physically recognizable. For example, I think most people could pick Stephen King out of a line up, but not necessarily Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton (when he was alive) or John Grisham.
So, the ultimate question would be are you the most well known Newington resident on a national level?
That’s it. Good hunting.
