The World of Jonathan Gray(s)
I always liked my name because it seemed simple enough, yet not too complex to throw people off. Grey’s Anatomy resulted in a generation of students determined to spell my last name incorrectly, agreed, and my first name is a challenge for many non-Europeans (a recent order at an Indian restaurant resulted in my name being transcribed as “Jalidin,” while the great Brit comedy Goodness Gracious Me has a skit about how poorly Brits pronounce Indian names, that uses Jonathan as the victim by flipping the tables and making him Jonavinder, Jonash, etc.). But it seems that the whole shebang is pretty darn common. Not only did I hear of a whacko Jonathan Gray who tried to incinerate a regular Extratextuals reader’s kids’ garden furniture, but here are some of my other namesakes:
Paratextual Specialist
I was most impressed to see, given my interest in paratexts and extratexts, that there is a Jonathan Gray who designs book covers. Indeed, if you’ve ever seen a Jonathan Safran Foer, you’ve seen “my” work.
Actor in Fine Films
If your tastes aren’t quite as high as Everything is Illuminated, and you prefer films such as Forbidden Lust, Babes in the Woods, Deviant Passions, or Babes 2: Lost in Beaver Creek, then you’ve seen my doppelganger.
Dodgy Musician
If the above doesn’t have you wondering about me, “my” stint with a group called Jump, Little Children, or the odd picture at “my” MySpace page, might do the trick.
Photographer
And “I” am an advertising and “glamor” photographer.
Indiana Jones’s Real-Life Counterpart
International explorer, archaeologist, and author, “I” explore ancient mysteries and then write about them. Here’s a sampling:
“Your body… my brains,†she said.
“After the experiment, that’s how we turned out!… Hey, Jonathan, don’t look so shocked.â€
I must admit, Carolyn’s “news†got me thinking.
Did Space Giants Experiment With Us?
Computer Scientist
For somewhat less titillating reading, check out “my” Parallel Computing: Technology and Practice.
Comic Artist
Or check out “my” comic-drawing skills.
Advocate and Kick Ass Lawyer
IMDB writes that “I” am:
A practicing attorney since 1990, Jonathan Gray is a dedicated advocate for emerging and established directors, producers, production entities, screenwriters, investors and distributors in film, television and other media.
His diversified trial experience includes copyright and trademark actions, as well as product liability, securities, and civil rights matters. Jonathan is also an award-winning independent film producer whose films have been screened at festivals worldwide
Small Forward
Lest you be thinking I’m more of a brainiac or a nerd, though, read “my” scouting report here, should your college team be in the market for a football player.
Big City Cobbler
Moving into my fictional existence, there’s a 1915 film called The Sacrifice of Jonathan Gray, of which the New York Times writes:
Cadaverous Murdock McQuarrie plays Jonathan Gray in this tense Universal three-reeler. Country boy Gray is married to a city woman (Lydia Landowska), who deserts him when her former lover comes calling. Not wishing to make trouble for anyone, Gray stands by stoically as his wife takes their little daughter along with her. Alas, her lover turns out to be a drug addict, forcing her to “save” her daughter by abandoning the kid. Fortunately, the little girl is adopted by a wealthy family. Many years pass, and Jonathan Gray, now a cobbler in a big-city shoe store, is given the job of fashioning a pair of wedding shoes for a pretty young heiress. At this point, the outcome of the story should be obvious to anyone who’s ever seen a movie before
Big City Hotshot
“I” am also a businessman extraordinaire, known for my modesty and brilliance. A profile notes:
If Gray can’t grow a giant ego by closing the Biggest Deal Ever, what hope is there for the rest of us?
[....]
Gray’s background is almost sickeningly admirable. While he does come from finance blood and breeding—his father was an investment adviser and his step-father an executive at an investment bank, he majored in economics and English at Penn. Not finance.
[....]
So, yes. Jon Gray is simply a better person than you are. Deal with it.
And with that noble closing line, I take my leave …
Interestingly enough, Wikipedia’s only Jonathan Gray is a pseduonym for a British mystery writer. Clearly you need to become notable to supplant this impostor!
(And this is why I enjoy having a unique name in the Google era…)
I’ve been fascinated by my internet doubles for some time (Chuck/Charles Tryon is a surprisingly common name). I have a fantasy novelist, a grocery store executive, a police chief, a published fly fisher, and a couple of barons, among others.
If you haven’t seen Alan Berliner’s The Sweetest Sound on this phenomenon, you should check it out. It’s a lot of fun.
There’s a Geoff Long who’s a techno-centric journalist making the rounds out there, a lawyer and a physician, but I still own 8 of the first 10 results at Google for Geoffrey Long. Woot.
The biggest thing that annoys me is the existence of one adventure novelist named Jeff Long, who writes stuff that I myself would genuinely enjoy reading or might have written in another world. Once I get my pop fiction career up off the ground, I’ll have to think long and hard about publishing two of my works-in-progress, subterranean adventures called UNDER and GOLDWORLD, because they walk awfully close to the area that Jeff Long has staked out for himself. Either that or I’ll have to make up some ridiculous pen name for those two. ‘Jonathan Gray’ has a nice ring to it…
Don’t ask how I came across this website, or this article. This is my first visit ever hear. I recently got into a habit of acting like everything I read will connect with something else, which then I Google to find another page. After I watched lost I randomly chose a name off my facebook friends, and searched it in Google, this led to the discover of a musician under the same name. I read her bio and found out she had studied philosophy before going on to music. She studied at Fordham University. I then searched this along with the name “Tim Kring” (Creator of Heroes, which I just recently started watching season 1.) After Googling these I then got the name “Jonathan Gray” that of one who went to Fordham University. The surname of Gray is pretty relevant to Heroes (at least that of which I’ve seen so far.) So I searched the name along with “Heroes” which resulted in to articles from this site. One that of “Heroes” and the other indented result of an article entitled “The World of Jonathan Gray(s)”
Now. That’s how I got here. After reading the story and the comment responses I have to say, it has led me to some interesting things. I have always searched my name in Google to find others, but since my name is Slovakian it didn’t return many results. But there was one Mike Hobizal that I do know of. And it appears that my life is almost fitting exactly with his. I am an aspiring web designer at 17, and I come to find out that this other Mike Hobizal is also pretty big with web design/development. Now recently at school I have gotten involved with photography, and I come to find out that he is involved with the site Digital Image Cafe. I don’t know much about him really, but this is all very interesting.
Yah that’s about it, unless I find out more.