What's in a Name3.

My stats tell me that I’m getting a rash of visits to an old post of mine from nine years ago called What’s in a Name2. (I assume there must have been a What’s in a Name1.)

It reminded me of a young woman picture researcher I used to speak to quite often by phone back in my photography days. Her name was Lucy van Laun, and she had a sister called Emma van Laun who worked for another publisher.

Aren’t they just the most splendid of names, and don’t splendid names conjure up splendid images? They had splendid voices too – I remember that Lucy had a habit of exclaiming ‘Oh, brilliant!’ in a plumy, public school sort of accent which evoked images of long hair, longer legs, captivating smiles, and a bright, giggly sort of sophistication which leaves men of my level of discernment having to put some effort into avoiding frothing at the mouth and going weak at the knees. (I was a lot younger then.) I saw them gracing the upper sixth common room at a non-violent version of St Trinian’s, complete with gym slips and engaging pouts.

And so I used to long to find some excuse to visit one or both of them during one of my sojourns to the London publishing houses, but alas I never did. Then again, maybe my failure wasn’t such a bad thing. For as much as splendid names and splendid voices have the power to evoke splendid images, the reality is often very different. For all I know they might both have looked like a dog’s bum with a hat on.