This is part of a series of stories about aptly named people. Click here for more aptonyms.
Q: How did your name direct your career path?
A: Well, it probably didn’t that much. I married into the name in 1991 and at that time, I was already a prosecutor, and I thought it was quite suitable. Somewhere around that time it was suggested to me to run for judge, and I’m sure someone mentioned ‘and you’ve got the perfect name.’ When I ran, I had recently been involved in a high profile arson case, so the name and the face were hopefully in the public conscious in a positive way, and it didn’t make coming up with campaign slogans very difficult.
Q: Would you change your name if you could, and why or why not?
A: No. No. I like my name. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
Q: If you could choose another career what would it be?
A: I wouldn’t. I may be one of those rare lawyers who has thoroughly enjoyed my career from start to finish. When I was in the prosecutor’s office, there were days where I’d go home and ask, ‘They are actually paying me to do this?’ Since becoming a judge … it’s been interesting and challenging. Not to say there aren’t days that are difficult or heartbreaking. But you are always learning. I wouldn’t change that, name or otherwise.
Q: How do you know when someone has picked up on the fact that your name is an aptonym?
A: People comment on it regularly. It’s the civil litigants that comment more often than the defendants who have been cautioned by their counsel to be more circumspect in their comments. I typically smile and sometimes I say that about half of the people who visit my courtroom might agree that it is an appropriate name and the other half wouldn’t agree. That usually gets a laugh.
Q: How do people react to the combination of your name and job? Do they get it? Any funny stories as a result?
A: Certainly I’ve had people who were unhappy with my rulings and will specifically say ‘Now that was not an appropriate name for you at all!’ or others might say, ‘We came in and noticed your name and by golly, it really is an appropriate name.”
When I was campaigning for judge, my husband was out door-belling, and we came upon a residence and they got very excited because one of the residents inside had taken one of my campaign signs and put it up in her room for a decoration. So name recognition is a good thing.
And now I have to mention that it’s my husband who really has full claim to the name, and he’s a judge too, Edmonds Municipal Court Judge Douglas Fair. So together, we are the Judges Fair.
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