Cecil Adams, affectionately known to readers and fans and sometimes refers to himself as Uncle Cecil or Uncle Cece, is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

ous author of ''

The Straight Dope ''The Straight Dope'' was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 197 ...

'', a popular question and answer column published in the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

'' from 2 February 1973 to 2018. The true identity of Adams, whether a single individual or a group of authors, has remained secret. ''The Chicago Reader''s 1986 trademark filing for the name "Cecil Adams" states that "Cecil Adams does not identify any particular individual but was devised as a fanciful name." As of 2008, Ed Zotti was the editor of the column. The column was syndicated in 31

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s in the

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and

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and has been continued as a website. The aim of the column, and now the website, is to spread general knowledge and everyday rational thinking, using a very strong and characteristically quirky sense of humor - some of it self-deprecating. Billed as the "World's Smartest Human", Adams responded to often unusual inquiries with a high degree of humor (often directed against the questioner, sometimes sardonically), and at times carried out exhaustive research into obscure and arcane issues,

urban legend Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

s, and the like. On more than one occasion, Adams was forced to retract or modify an answer when confronted by "the Teeming Millions" (Adams' term for his readers), often claiming overwork and staff shortages. On rare occasions, Adams made appearances on the Straight Dope's Message Board. On June 27, 2018, Adams announced that the "Straight Dope" column would be ending after 45 years and over 3,400 columns. On January 13, 2023, it was announced that Cecil Adams would again be writing a column on The Straight Dope Message Board. The first column, which appeared on the same day, was titled, "Is

longtermism Longtermism is the ethical view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. It is an important concept in effective altruism and a primary motivation for efforts that aim to reduce existential risks to h ...

the world’s most dangerous belief system?"

Personal details

Adams states that he has "never been photographed", and while there is at least one photo captioned with his name, the image is of Ed Zotti, who fulfilled Adams's publicity engagements. Previous editors include Mike Lenehan and

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

. In his columns, Adams has revealed a few details of his purported personal life, including the existence of a Mrs. Adams (the FAQ section on his website states that chance references to "Mrs. Adams" may refer to his mother), that he has a brother-in-law, and that he has either children or dwarves as helpers. He has a brother. He is an accomplished traveler, and currently resides in Chicago's 47th Ward. He is also

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

and may be balding and colorblind. He mentions having taken a class with

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

English professor Bergen Evans, mentions once working as an electrician's

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

, and a railroad machinist's helper. He also mentions attending a

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

. He is of Irish descent, and relaxes with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

and Baileys.

Published works

Adams has published five collections of his ''The Straight Dope'' columns: * ''The Straight Dope'' (1984) * ''More of the Straight Dope'' (1988) * ''Return of the Straight Dope ''(1994) * ''Triumph of the Straight Dope'' (1994) * ''The Straight Dope Tells All'' (1998) Zotti has also published a children's collection in ''The Straight Dope'' style entitled ''Know It All''. Adams' columns are archived at the Straight Dope website. In 1996, the A&E Network briefly aired a show hosted by comedian Mike Lukas based on the column, also called ''The Straight Dope''. Over 600 articles have been posted to the site's online archive; some of these contain multiple questions and answers. Also included with the columns are quirky illustrations. Slug Signorino was the regular illustrator for ''The Straight Dope'' for forty-two years. In his illustrations, Cecil Adams is often depicted as a large turkey wearing a

mortar board Mortar Board is an American national honor society for college juniors and seniors. It was established in 1918 in Syracuse, New York through the merger of four local women's organizations from four institutions. It started admitting men in 1975 ...

or, occasionally, as a man in underwear with a paper bag over his head.

References

External links

The Straight Dope
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Cecil American columnists American humorists Chicago Reader people Unidentified American people Living people Year of birth missing (living people)