I should have changed my name to Jim Noce
For years, my wife has been telling me I should change my name from Jim Murphy to Jim Noce – her family name. I’m starting to think she’s right.
Why? Because my new book, “Real Philly History, Real Fast,” just got a one-star review. The reason: I’m the wrong Jim Murphy. And the reviewer, whose last name is also named Murphy, blamed me for that.
The truth is I’ve been trying to tie my photo and bio to my own book at Amazon and other book sites since October 21, 2020. And it hasn’t been an easy process.
Along the way, I’ve had the wrong bio, wrong photo or both attached to my book at Amazon, Google and Bookshop.At one point, I finally had the correct info listed at Amazon. But when the site correctly changed the number of pages in the book from 160 to 264 on May 26, it also pulled in the wrong photo and bio again.
As a newbie writing my first book, I did not totally understand the process. After receiving advice from a friend, I found my way to the Amazon Author Page, eventually spoke to a real live human being at Amazon who was very helpful, and finally got the correct photo and bio attached to my book at Amazon by May 31.
An example of a website listing the wrong Jim Murphy as the author of my book.
But this isn’t my first problem
with a mistaken identity
In the 1970s, as a resident of Delaware County, a suburb of Philadelphia, I learned there were 38 people with the name J., Jim or James Murphy listed in the local phone book. I’ll never forget the plaintive apology left on my answering machine one day by someone I didn’t know, for a Jim Murphy I also didn’t know.
Unfortunately, the apologist left no phone number. So the correct recipient never received it.
And when I bought a house in Philadelphia, I had to sign a paper that I was not one of eight creditors named Jim or James Murphy who hadn’t paid their bills.
Back in the1940s, Irish Catholic families seemed to name just about every boy James, John, Robert or William.
In fact, that’s the exact order of the most popular male U.S. baby names from 1940-49. Plus, Murphy is still the most common surname in Ireland, says IrishCentral.com. And Ancestry.com says it’s also the most common Irish surname in the U.S.
So Jim Murphy is a far too-common name just waiting to cause confusion.
I’m sorry the reader who gave my book one star was upset at receiving a book by the “wrong” Jim Murphy. At some point, I hope he actually sits down and reads my book.
I believe he’ll learn an amazing amount of fascinating facts and interesting oddities about Philadelphia that simply don’t appear anywhere else in one place.
And he’s sure to discover some new information about the Irish Memorial, one of the most powerful sculptures I’ve ever seen.
As for me, I haven’t changed my name to Jim Noce … yet. But if it helps me avoid more unnecessary confusion in the future, I just might.
Note: I am sorry to report that the other Jim Murphy has passed away. To read his obituary, click here: