Danny Overton is the county engineer for Clarke County. I know that.

Yet, last week in a commission story I repeatedly referred to him as Danny Brown. None of our proofreaders here at The Democrat caught it. They always assume I am supposed to know. I don't always know, you know that. But I do know the county engineer. I just got it wrong.

Danny probably understands my boo-boo better than anyone. Let me try to explain it to you.

Danny's mother was a Brown, one of several Brown children from a large family. Jerry Brown, a friend and former Auburn University journalism dean and more recently dean of the University of Montana journalism school, is Danny's uncle and my longtime friend.

After Danny got the job of engineer earlier this year, he reminded me of the tie. I remarked to him that he looked a lot like his Uncle Jerry. He does.

So now, every time I look at Danny, I think of Jerry.

The day I wrote the commission story I had just reviewed e-mails and one of those was from Jerry. He's retired to the good life in North Carolina now and is writing some kind of history or analysis piece on Mitcham Beat, where he was born and where all the Browns come from. I'm not sure exactly what it is and from what Jerry tells me, he isn't real sure either. But knowing Jerry, it'll be good.

Anyway, I read Jerry's email, closed the file and wrote my commission story. And in every place where I referenced Danny Overton, I made him a Brown. And I never caught it.

Does that make any sense?

I've done things like this before. Some here lately. Sometimes I just outright get a name wrong. Often, like this, there's a crazy logic to my mistake.

I tend to reference women I've known for years, since high school or earlier, by their maiden names. Almost every time I write Phyllis Barnes, Grove Hill town councilwoman, I call her Phyllis Bradford. She was Phyllis Bradford when we were in high school and she is still Phyllis Bradford.

Ditto for Sharon Reynolds. We were classmates and she was Sharon Hamilton and she's still often Sharon Hamilton to me.

So far, my Phyllis Bradford goofs have been caught and corrected. But, Phyllis, when it does get by, be forewarned. You, too, Jimmy (her beloved). Of course, Jimmy will probably understand better than anyone. He knows she is a Bradford and always will be!

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When it rain, it pours. After the above was written, I learned The Thomasville Times had a name wrong in their Focus progress issue last week. It is my fault, by extension, I guess.

A couple or years ago The Democrat ran a photo of the Opine Tallahatta Volunteer Fire Department and identified Rex Rush as Rex Wood. The mistake got by here and it got by at The Times when we sent it up there, too. They reran the photo last week and, yep, they reprinted the old mistake again!

Rex Rush chewed on me, in a fun way (I think!) Tuesday morning in Thomasville and I thought he was talking about the old mistake. It wasn't until we parted I found out there was one last week!

I didn't know about that goof but I got the credit for it, so to speak.

****

I guess I am getting old. I should worry about having Alzheimer's but if I do it has been coming on for a long time. Anyway, they tell me if you think you have it, you don't. It's the folks who are adamant that they are sane and everyone else is crazy you have to watch.

Well, maybe....

Jim Cox is editor and publisher of The Clarke County Democrat.