Why…. Blackthorne?

Some of us around here have net-handles. Me, well you can see I use “Blackthorne” which has become “Bt” over the years. It’s a funny story behind Blackthorne, and it’s the handle I have used on-line since 1990. Since I was originally playing Sierra games 23 years ago now.

Many people often think it stems from the Interplay published game “Blackthorne” which came out for the SNES in 1994, but my usage predates that – I was 12 in 1990, and a voracious reader. My grandfather was a big reader, and I remember these large tomes that lived on on his shelf – “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo, “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “Exodus” by Leon Uris, “The Source” & “Cheasepeake” by James Michener are some that stick out – along with “Shogun” by James Clavell. So one day, I took down Shogun and started reading it – it was definitely a struggle and a bit above me, but on my visits, I would read a couple dozen pages or so every time – and the protagonist of that novel was John Blackthorne.

Being 12, I thought that was a cool name, and when I started to dial into BBSs, I used that name as my login ID. In the early day of modem and BBSs, I used it on every site – and you’d find users from all over keeping the same ID, establishing an identity. So, I have used this for over 23 years now.

Nice bit of random trivia. I’m sure everyone has stories behind their net handles. I’m always interested in hearing them.

Bt

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