All In A Name

Journal

WRITERS often find themselves in a quandary.

The same happens with actors, models, and artists on stage and on screen.

They end up being known by the name in which they work. In my case, I am known by my author name, and also by my birth name.

Pseudonyms are necessary, as a means of concealing one’s true identity, especially if the writing is risqué. As a copy editor, I have, sometimes, blushed and decided that the author is indeed right to use a different name. This in no way detracts from the standard and quality of the work. It often heightens both.

So, depending upon what part of the country I’m in, depends oddly on what name I am known by. It can lead to confusion.

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Marshall is my maternal family name.

Webb is the paternal family name. I am equally proud of both names.

The two names attaching to my author's name … well … you will need to go to that most secret place, and if you are there, I guarantee He will not be ready to spill the beans!

I am born Kenneth Thomas Webb, named after two uncles whom I never met. Ken Webb was killed in action over Germany in 1943, coming down in Lachen Speyerdorf, south of Mannheim and just east of Kaiserslautern; and with Lachen Speyerdorf I and my family have a very close relationship with the families, and with the town. There is plenty of information on this website if one is interested. Head to the Royal Air Force Tab or take a look at the ongoing family biography, Windsor Street Days.

Thomas Marshall drowned, aged 12, in July 1939 near Wainlodes on the River Severn in Gloucestershire.

Tom’s elder brother Harry was also killed in action over Germany in 1945.

And it was to remember him, my third uncle, Harry, that I asked Mum if I could use the maternal family name. That was no simple task, a point my last surviving Uncle, Frank (1938-2018), (also ex RAF) made in 2017 … you were lucky there, our kid! Nano wouldn’t have given that privilege out lightly. Yer Mam’s a gud un. Well done!

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So, there we have it. Many, who know me only by the one name, prefer to keep with that. And this is a fairly important point because, candidly put, and it’s nowt to do with split personalities or whatever; rather, each persona develops differently.

Put it this way. There are things that this chap Ian Bradley Marshall can write about and tackle and get away with, that Kenneth Thomas Webb junior wouldn’t dare do in a million years! He’d have a heart attack!!

Such is life.

The banner image shows a very happy family on holiday, and we only came across it recently in the family archive. Uncle Harry, Uncle Tom in the middle, and Nancy Marshall, MUM!

But time fast approaches when I prefer to be the real me.

9 September 2021
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© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2022