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And now, a word from
Dr. Agonwagon |
"Many people do dumb things in their teenage years, but most have the sense
not to cast them in concrete, which they then have to drag around for the rest
of their lives...
"At sixteen, I got married for the first time. My  then-husband-to-be
and I thought that the woman should not take the man's last name, so we decided
to choose a new last name. As I recall, somewhere in there we looked at one of
those 'One Thousand Names for the Baby' books, and discovered that our old first
names had meanings we did not agree with (it was the late sixties, we did not
agree with much). (This picture was
taken maybe a year before I met Crispin. Way too young to make a lifelong decision!)
"His old first name, Mark, meant 'the warrior'; we were anti-war. My old first name, Ellen, meant
'the Queen'; we were anti-authoritarian. He came up with the new first names for
us, Crispin, for him, meaning 'the curly-headed one'; Crescent for me, meaning
'the growing' (once erroneously reported in a newspaper interview as meaning
'the growth'!).
"The wedding drew nearer. We still hadn't
come up with a new last name. One day, after trying and discarding several
possibilities, I said, 'Maybe we're taking ourselves too seriously, maybe we
should pick something completely frivolous.' He said, 'Like what?' I said, 'Oh,
um, uh, like Dragonwagon.'
"Thus we became Crescent and Crispin
Dragonwagon. If I had had any idea how many countless thousands of times
I would have to explain this ridiculous name, I would have chosen something a
lot less flashy. But by the time I realized how long the remainder of my days
might be, and that I'd be pulling it around like a ball and chain, I already
had a couple of books out and the start of a professional reputation.
"But, I will say ill say it's a great children's book name; kids love saying it.
Plus, I enjoy seeing how various mailing list computers maim it. For instance, I
get letters from American Express, beginning, 'Dear Mr. Wagon,' and
solicitations addressed to Dr. Agonwagon.
"I
certainly can't blame anyone for saying "Hunh?"
when they first hear it, or asking me how I got this name, though I am really,
really tired of telling the whole dumb story, or for writing me off as a flake, at least until they
get to know me.
"There's also this: decisions you make early in your life also look different as you mature. These days I think that at that
 point,
another strong factor was that I did not want to
get by on my parents' credit or identity. I was a writer; they were both
writers, and semi-famous ones. If I used
their name, I think I felt, unconsciously, as if I was using their reputations
and identities, instead of forming one of my own. At that age, it's
essential to make a marked break from your parents in some way, so I respect the pigheadedness and idealism of my sixteen-year-old
self, even while I am exasperated with her... because now I also sometimes think, wasn't being a
professional freelance writer hard enough, did you have to make it harder on
yourself?
" (Above left, an
older and hopefully wiser dragon, in a 1998 photo by Susan Storch).
"But the truth is, once people know
me, they don't even notice my weird name anymore.
"By the way, Crispin and I divorced many years ago, in 1973. In
1978 I wed
Ned
Shank, to whom I remained happily, passionately, and interestingly
married until his untimely death November, 2000." |
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©Dragon,
Pen & Inc. 2000-2007 :: Last Updated:
03/05/07 ::