This story, about school bus driver/artist Steve Kreuscher, who has legally changed his name, is from Fox.
A Lake County circuit court judge approved Steve Kreuscher’s name change petition on Friday.
Under the arrangement, the 57-year-old’s first name was changed to “In God” while his last name was changed to “We Trust.”
He says the new name symbolizes the help God gave him during tough times and says he can’t wait to begin signing his artwork with the new moniker.
So, his name is In God We Trust. First name, In God.
“Hey, In God, feel like hanging out later maybe, watching the new Larry the Cable Guy movie?”
“Thanks for stopping by, Mr We Trust”.
It should also be noted (not sure why but, it should) that, Mr. We Trust hails from Zion, Illinois.
I was reminded of former N.B.A. star Lloyd B. Free who, in 1980, legally changed his first name to “World”; World B. Free.
It’s a little different because, his middle initial and last name were already “B. Free”. I remember at the time, a lot of people thought the idea was pretty flaky and the commentators had a bit of a field day with it. But, World was a good baller and, pretty soon it seemed, everybody got used to the idea. I think that the fact that he was an established and legitimate, star player helped.
In other words, I think that personal publicity and notoriety, weren’t the motivating factors for World; he already had those. I think that deep down, it was and is, his personal statement; World B. Free. Not unlike John Lennon’s idea of parlaying the Beatles fame into a public relations campaign for peace.
So, what about our new friend, In God? Is he similarly motivated?
On the surface, it may appear as a publicity stunt, a way to get people to look at his art. Fox News never paid any attention to Steve Kreuscher until he changed his name to In God We Trust. And now, there will be people looking at his artwork.
I think that dismissing this as a “stunt” is a misconception because it is questioning an individual’s sincerity. And, sincerity is not reserved for celebrities.
In God will, no doubt, suffer some ridicule but, he might sell some art to people who would otherwise never have heard of him. But you know, John Lennon suffered some ridicule for the bed in and sold a bunch of copies of “Give Peace a Chance”.
This piece is called “Long Vicious Ropes Are Hanging”.
And, you can take a look at more of In God We Trust’s art here.
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Tags: Beatles, In God We Trust, John Lennon, public relations, Steve Kreuscher, World B. Free
Jayne d'Arcy wrote,
As I was reading this I was just rolling my eyes, figuring that, as an artist, he was popular as bad as his name change. I quite like his artwork, although I definitely think his name change is purely a marketing ploy. But hey, if it works, it’s good!
Link | June 16th, 2008 at 5:07 am