# re Evan S Barnable *The Urth list — 4 messages, 4 voices, 26 Jun 2000* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Allan Lloyd *26 Jun 2000, 20:18* I've just been re-reading Little Big (prompted by the discussion on this group) and by some wierd coincidence, just reached the page in Letters to Santa where Smoky reveals his real name. Some-one asked what the S stands for. Does no-one get the joke? Evan S. = evanesce = disappearing from sight, fading, or maybe ghost-like or even Smoky Allan --- ### Michael Andre-Driussi *26 Jun 2000, 14:45 · follows Allan Lloyd* > Allan wrote: > I've just been re-reading Little Big (prompted by the discussion on this > group) and by some wierd coincidence, just reached the page in Letters > to Santa where Smoky reveals his real name. > Some-one asked what the S stands for. Does no-one get the joke? > > Evan S. = evanesce = disappearing from sight, fading, or maybe > ghost-like or even Smoky Yowie! Looks right to me . . . and since "Evan S." = "Smoky" (and it was probably the too-clever relatives who cooked up "Smoky" directly from "Evan S.") then it would be redundant for S itself to equal "Smoky." Meaning that the S remains another hidden name, another one of those tough little easter eggs without any real answer, core, yoke, or candy picture inside: John Crowley often hides these in his fictions. =mantis= --- ### William Ansley *26 Jun 2000, 22:05 · follows Michael Andre-Driussi* > I've just been re-reading Little Big (prompted by the discussion on this > group) and by some wierd coincidence, just reached the page in Letters > to Santa where Smoky reveals his real name. > Some-one asked what the S stands for. Does no-one get the joke? > > Evan S. = evanesce = disappearing from sight, fading, or maybe > ghost-like or even Smoky > > Allan Kudos, Allen! I re-read _Little, Big_ recently and quite carefully too, I might add, but I missed this completely. An excellent catch. And it nicely explains why Crowley reveals Smoky's real first name (however briefly) while keeping mum about what his middle initial stands for. I was wondering about that! Thank you. William Ansley --- ### Alex David Groce *27 Jun 2000, 08:18 · follows William Ansley* William Ansley said (congratulating Allen): > And it nicely explains why Crowley reveals Smoky's real first name > (however briefly) while keeping mum about what his middle initial > stands for. I was wondering about that! Thank you. In fact, it seems more than just plausible that Smoky's middle initial doesn't stand for anything--remember that he wears "A Suit of Truman's" to be married in and that the 'S' in Harry S. Truman is without further signification. I think that's the solution to the middle initial mystery. ``` "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32 -- Alex David Groce (agroce+ at cs.cmu.edu) Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department 8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066 http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce ``` ---