Who's Who?

An autobiographer has a lot to say about other people. You can't help it, they were there too, so they're in. But you might say something they don't like. Sometimes that doesn't matter, or it's the intention. There's a whole sub-genre written by people who know famous people, and the point of the book is the celebrity dirt. I don't know anyone famous (*), but I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who I mention here, and I respect their privacy. So I had to decide how to talk about them. Whatever you do (just give their names, change their names, don't mention them at all) is potentially offensive. But here's what I decided. Mostly I just call people by their names. But when there was some kind of emotion involved, I talk about them without naming them. This seems pretty callous, but saves having to mix frankness with circumspection. If one of these people happens to chance on my autobiography, you'll know who you are (usually). And if you visit, and don't find yourself mentioned (or don't find yourself not mentioned, if you see what I mean), please don't be offended. Almost certainly you were one of the 35 girls I had a crush on in 1974.

(*) Well, I've met the Queen, I taught Rasmus Lerdorf, and I often served toast to Andy Fletcher, but that's it. (The Queen is a British monarch; Rasmus Lerdorf is the inventor of PHP; Andy Fletcher is the non-musical third of Depeche Mode.)