h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I was wondering about your name/handle, you see... There is a character I know of who's called 'Deke', so yours caught my attention, but I hear that it also means to retreat/hide, or something. Anyway. Just wondering, hope I'm not bothering you!

Hi there
Sorry for not replying earlier but as I don’t check in here as much as I used to, I’ve only just seen it. Thanks for taking the time and welcome to hootoo.

I don’t know about the meaning of the name, but it’s derived from my name’s initials.

I was also dubbed with it for a short time in a athletics club I used to belong to. It was held that I had a vague similarity to a then, well known Aussie runner, by the name of Robert de Castella who at the time was known as Deek. It may have had a lot to do with the Viva Zapata moustaches that were in vogue at the time which we both sported, but as he was about six inches taller than me and about 45 minutes faster through the marathon distance, it wasn’t much to do with athletic performance.

I also used the ‘Deke’ version on h2 for a while as I wrote an article on the NASA moon missions in which Deke Slayton figures quite large. Always one of my heros.

All the best
Deek