So was this obnoxious of me or what? Today I got an email from my former M.E., asking if I was freelancing for the Boston Globe. Now there according to a nationwide phone search there are only 32 “Derek Rose”‘s in the entire United States – but wouldn’t you know it, there one is another working as a reporter in my former stomping grounds. Gak!

I did a Nexis search and only found 30 Globe bylines by him, mostly in the “Globe West” suburban section. So I’m guessing maybe he’s in his early 20s, just starting out…

Anyway, I sent him this email, asking him, as nicely as I could, if he’d consider using his middle initial… I’m just worried as his career progresses we’ll get confused more. And I was Derek Rose first!

From: Rose, Derek [mailto:DRose[at]edit.nydailynews.com]
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 12:27 PM
To: drose[at]globe.com
Subject: hey derek

Yo, Derek – great name, nice work for the Globe …

Hey, can I ask you something without you being offended?? Have you ever considered using a middle initial?? (which is hopefully not “m”)

I only ask because I worked for five years at several different
newspapers in New Hampshire, grew up in Massachusetts, and (before my career as a journalist) have had a couple letters published in the Globe. Also,as a reporter for the New York Daily News for the past four years, I’ve had more than 1,000 bylines as a “Derek Rose.”

So I’m just worried if there are two of us out there without middle initials, we’ll inevitably be confused…

Anyways, just something to consider.

Regards,
Derek Rose
Staff writer, New York Daily News
www.derekrose.com