"Is that your real name?"

"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 --- self-understanding and identity are at least as blurry as this photo.)

"His old first name, Mark, meant 'the warrior'; we were anti-war. My old first name, Ellen, meant 'the Queen'; we were anti-authoritarian. It was the '60's; we didn't agree with much. 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. (This little dragon, working industriously away at a typewriter --- remember typewriters? --- has been my logo since, let's see, about 1978. I still like it. The name has grown really old, so beyond old, for me... but I still like this dragon.)

"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've gotten letters from credit card companies and charities beginning, 'Dear Mr. Wagon,' and solicitations addressed to Dr. Agonwagon. I'm just so tired of being asked about it, or being typecast as 'Enh, took too much acid in the '60's.'

" Of course, I certainly can't blame anyone for saying "Hunh?" when they first hear it, or asking me how I got this name, though I could very happily never ever tell the whole dumb story again as long as I live. I also can't blame anyone but myself when people, understandably but regrettably, hear the danged name and write me off as a flake, at least until they get to know me. 

"More seriously: there's also this: decisions you make early in your life look different as you mature. These days I think that at that point when I changed my name, 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.

"Looking back now, I think I must've felt that if I used their name, 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 do respect the pig-headedness 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 2009 photo by David Koff). 

"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 for 23 years, until his sudden and oh-so-untimely death on November 30, 2000. What happened then? This blog will more or less get you up to date. But as its title indicates, I think none of it ---losing Ned so terribly, and even yes, way earlier, choosing such a ridiculous name when I was a baby radical --- none of it has been wasted on me as a writer. "

Comments

[JoAnne W. Felchner]

Crescent, I met you at the airport in Hartford> I was the gate agent that is interested in becoming a children's writer. I just wanted to say Hi and I'm glad to have met you! Your name story is interesting, Yes, I understand being exhausted with repeated explanations over the years. Good luck to you and I hope to attend one of your workshops.

[kenneth macKillop]

For kicks one day I told the promoters of a show that I wanted to billed as Balooky Klujypop, from a children's book by Ivor Cutler. fortunately the name only stuck among a very small circle of frenz. I can imagine however getting it into my head that I needed to be legally Balooky J. Klujypop, and what that would have entailed. My own given surname is mangled enough: macKillop (we pronounce it m'Killup -ish) but many people don't even try saying it "Mac… ?"

I love your Soup and Bread book. tomorrow I will go to the library and have a look at your children's books. thnx for a lot of good meals, esp the buttermilk cornbread recipe - I started making w/ purple cornmeal and tho slightly drier, mebbe better.

[Cecelia Blair]

Hi Crescent,

I was delighted to hear you speak last night at the library. I noted a Tree of Life motif in your talk. If you would ever like to read a true and magical account I wrote about tree communication,just ask.

I love your name but understand the annoyance of having to explain so often. My mother from Virginia used to call me Allen, after her mother's maiden name. (In Virginia I met girls called Dabney, Carter, Blair, Lindsay, Sydney, Marshall--family names-- OR Lulah Lipop, and all the other double, ultra-fem. ones). Now I go by a name I chose.

What I love Southern culture for, answering the question I asked you, is the great oral tradition--storytelling, humor, conversation and motivational talk. And I wanted to mention a funny, half great book called Confessions of A Failed Southern Lady by Florence King.

Going out to buy The Cornbread Gospels!

[Will Slagel]

Hi there. Love your unusual name and the story behind it. Also love the Cornbread Gospels cookbook my mom got for me. Tried three recipes so far. All are great. I got laid off a couple of years ago to Chinese outsourcing and am now trying to make it on my own following my hobby/passion/obsession; artistic blacksmithing. Three cheers for individualism! Will

[gary Wayland]

Crescent, will you please come back to Eureka Springs, Arkansas? We are many times visitors to Eureka Springs, and nothing is the same since you left here.

Gary Wayland
Tulsa, Oklahoma

[CD]

Ah, Gary... thank you (I think!) but I am slowly getting more and more deeply rooted in my present community. I LOVED my years in Eureka, but they came to an end. As we all do, eventually. "Life is change" --- we hear it all the time, we know it, and yet, it's startling when it happens, isn't it? When something we unknowingly took for granted alters? Good timing on yr note; just found out my beloved yoga teacher, who was a big part of my bridge to living in this part of the world, is moving so I too am struggling w/ wanting to make the wheel move backwards. But it only goes one way - forward. I know you'll find much to love in ES as it is. P.S. I do come back to visit --- will next be there in February.

Wishing you joy --- cd

[Shereen Letz]

Thank you for coming to Springfield, Vt. to talk to us about your corn bread book. You are a dynamic speaker and so happy that we can claim you as a Vermonter now. Will enjoy buying books that you have published. What a treat to learn about your work.

[CD]

Thank you, Shereen! What a nice surprise to find this here!

[Linda Aaron]

Hi Crescent!

I met you a couple of years ago when you came to Springfield, Missouri. You were at a book signing at the Waverly House. I had read about you in the local newspaper from time to time when you lived in Eureka Springs. Since yours is a name that you don't forget, I read in November of 2007 that you were going to be at the Waverly House. My curiousity got the best of me. I had to go see what a Crescent Dragonwagon looked like. I stood in line for an hour to get my turn to talk to you. In that time after overhearing your conversations with everyone, by the time it was my turn I felt like I had known you for years. I was so impressed with the way that you focus on each person when it is their turn to talk with you. You were never in a hurry to rush them on because you had a huge line of people waiting, you answered every dumb question like you've never heard it before, you were enthusiastic and caring. I bought 3 of your books and you signed each one. I told you that you didn't need to sign each one, but you went a step further and not only signed them but personalized each one from the conversation that we had. I almost cried when I walked away from you. I told my husband that I have a new best friend that I may never see again. I so wish I had known you when you were in Eureka Springs. We're about the same age and I really do think we would have been friends. Do you have any plans to come back to Springfield or Eureka Springs to visit in the next few months?

I'm getting ready to buy your Passionate Vegetarian cookbook. I have about worn out The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook, Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread and The Cornbread Gospels. The New World Corn Chowder and the Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread are a staple at our house in the winter. I just can't get enough of them! We have an annual Christmas Eve party at our house for family and friends. Two Christmases ago I made your cornbread during the party. It came out of the oven and I set it on the stovetop. People came over and started eating it right out of the pan and it was gone in no time! Last year when I sent out invitations, one of the RSVPs included a note that said that she would only come if I was going to make that cornbread again. Of course I made it and it was gobbled up right away again.

I thank you for your cookbooks, your personal tidbits, your stories, your humor and your friendship. I know I don't know you but I sure feel like I do and I do hope we meet again. I hope you are happy and may God bless you abundantly!

[Kim Schaufenbuel]

Crescent,
Thanks so much for this explanation to your name. I love it! Your cookbooks are my favorites and I cook out of them so often that when people ask me about the recipe and I refer them to your cookbooks I get the funny looks for your crazy name. And to me your cookbooks aren't really cookbooks they are regular books. I have read each of them cover to cover just like a novel. The read that well. Thank you so much for your work.

[terri]

I just found your blog. I was saddened to hear about Ned's death. I received a copy of your "Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread Cookbook" as a wedding present, so you and Ned were my constant companions in the kitchen as I was learning how to cook and bake bread. (In fact, I think I worked my way through almost all of the breads, except for the multi-grain bread that required some good homemade granola, because your Dairy Hollow House Cookbook was out of print, and I couldn't find a copy at the time.) I owe my love of cooking and baking to you. Thank you for your wonderful work!

[Nina Zolotow]

I just told my son, Quinn, that he had a second cousin (once removed) named Crescent Dragonwagon and he absolutely refused to believe me!