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{{short description|American humorist}}{{BLP primary sources|article|date=September 2012}}Cecil Adams is the pseudonymous author of The Straight Dope, a popular question and answer column published in The Chicago Reader 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."WEB,weblink Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), United States Patent and Trademark Office, 30 Aug 2013, 25 August 2017,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170825193819weblink">weblink live, As of 2008, Ed Zotti was the editor of the column.Advance Publication Newsletter; Volume Seventeen, Number 3 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320060353weblink |date=2012-03-20 }} Penguin Group (USA) Cecil Adams is affectionately known to readers and fans (and sometimes refers to himself) as Uncle Cece.The column was syndicated in 31 newspapers in the United States and Canada and has been continued as a website.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}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",WEB,weblink The Straight Dope Tells All, February 24, 1998, Penguin Random House, February 22, 2019, February 22, 2019,weblink live, WEB,weblink Are jet contrails the latest threat?, June 16, 2000, Cecil, Adams, The Straight Dope, February 22, 2019, February 27, 2019,weblink live, 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 legends, and the like.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} On rare occasions, Adams made appearances on the Straight Dope's Message Board.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}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.WEB,weblink Cecil's back!, 13 January 2023, The first column, which appeared on the same day, was titled, "Is longtermism the world’s most dangerous belief system?"WEB,weblink Straight Dope 1/13/2023: Is longtermism the world's most dangerous belief system?, 13 January 2023,

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.JOURNAL, Piper, Paul S., February 1995, What makes Cecil Adams the world's greatest reference librarian?, American Libraries, 26, 2, 147, 0002-9769, 854299, Previous editors include Mike Lenehan and Dave Kehr.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.WEB,weblink The Straight Dope: Who is this man called Cecil Adams?, February 22, 2019, StraightDope.com, The Chicago Reader, February 22, 2019,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20190222204613weblink">weblink live, He has a brother.WEB, Adams, Cecil, What is a felo-de-se?,weblink The Straight Dope, 17 August 1973, Sun-Times Media, LLC, 2 August 2012, 16 June 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120616032006weblink">weblink live, He is an accomplished traveler, and currently resides in Chicago's 47th Ward.NEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink Are Chicago streets swept frequently so the city can collect more fines?, 2010-09-23, The Straight Dope Chicago, The Chicago Reader, 2010-10-10,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100926131740weblink">weblink 2010-09-26, dead, He is also left-handed and may be baldingNEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink Does sex make your acne worse?, 1992-08-28, The Straight Dope, The Chicago Reader, 2007-04-19, 2007-05-15,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070515044930weblink">weblink live, and colorblind.NEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink Who decided red means "stop" and green means "go"?, 1986-03-07, The Straight Dope, The Chicago Reader, 2007-04-19, 2007-05-02,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070502124052weblink">weblink live, He mentions having taken a class with Northwestern University English professor Bergen Evans,NEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink Why is William Shakespeare considered the greatest English language writer of all time?, 2005-10-14, The Straight Dope, The Chicago Reader, 2007-04-19, 2007-05-03,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070503003553weblink">weblink live, mentions once working as an electrician's apprentice,NEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink How come the U.S. uses 120 volt electricity, not 240 like the rest of the world?, 1992-11-20, The Straight Dope, The Chicago Reader, 2007-04-19, 2007-05-18,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070518184128weblink">weblink live, and a railroad machinist's helper.WEB,weblink Cecil! Tell us about you smashing the building with the crane! - Straight Dope Message Board, May 23, 2010, March 6, 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120306025420weblink">weblink dead, He also mentions attending a Catholic school.NEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink Why is the heart considered the center of love and affection?, 1996-02-16, The Straight Dope, The Chicago Reader, 2007-09-07, 2007-09-30,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070930200449weblink">weblink live, He is of Irish descent,NEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink Who are the "black Irish"?, 1993-07-30, The Straight Dope, The Chicago Reader, 2007-10-08, 2008-02-13,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080213175711weblink">weblink live, and relaxes with Pink Floyd and Baileys.NEWS, Adams, Cecil,weblink Can binaural beats improve your mood?, 2010-07-30, The Straight Dope, The Chicago Reader, 2010-08-25, 2010-08-02,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100802161708weblink">weblink live,

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.WEB,weblink ISBN 9780345362322 - Know It All!: The Fun Stuff You Never Learned in School, 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}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 or, occasionally, as a man in underwear with a paper bag over his head.WEB,weblink The Slug Signorino FAQ, 26 November 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120905002508weblink">weblink 5 September 2012, dead,

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• The Straight Dope
• {{IMDb name|1564833}}

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