The REAL Steve Levicoff???

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Steve Levicoff, Mar 10, 2017.

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  1. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Life would be easier if my name was, say, John Smith.

    But it’s not. And life has been fairly easy in terms of not confusing me with others who have the same name. There just aren’t that many Levicoffs, and most of us originated in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, where there were essentially two Levicoff “clans.” We may have been related three or four generations ago, but essentially we boiled down to two branches of Levicoffs: the “Island Road Levicoffs,” most of whom gravitated to northeast Philly or the New Jersey suburbs, and the “Franklin Street Levicoffs” (my branch), who gravitated to northwest Philly and the northern Philly burbs. Eventually, both branches would expand their reach to California, Florida, and Ohio.

    But I was the only Steve Levicoff. Or so I thought. I heard a rumor several years ago that there was also a Steve Levicoff in Arizona. But he never showed up when I tried to do an Internet search on him.

    Until recently. And talk about making an appearance with a major flourish… The other Steve Levicoff still does not show up significantly on a Google search, but he’s a daily presence on Facebook. And now I have to deal witih the notion that people who try to find me on Facebook will find his page and assume that he is me. Which he’s not. He’s the other Steve Levicoff. I’m the real Steve Levicoff. (Or is it the other way around?)

    As best I can determine. The other Steve Levicoff lives in Phoenix, Arizona, is 74 years old, and is Messianic Jewish. (Born and raised Jewish, I call myself evangelical, but I never use the term Messianic Jewish to describe myself.) He is into conservative talk radio big time, and makes daily posts that link to personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, Sean Hannity, and that ilk. He is pro-Trump, anti-Obama, anti-Hillary, anti-Muslim – in other words, both a typical and stereotypical right winger. He is like our own me again without the sense of humor, or Bruce T. without Bruce’s intelligence. (If you ever quote me on that, Bruce, I’ll categorically deny it as a vicious rumor.)

    In top of that, there may be a third Steve Levicoff, but there’s not much on him except an obsolete linkedin page that identifies him as retired in Haifa, Israel. Theoretically, he could be the same guy as Steve #2, having retired to Haifa and then moved back to Arizona, but there’s not enough information on him to even guess at this.

    The dilemma is obvious: People who Google me can find hundreds of references, the first of which is my WIkipedia bio (which, by the way, I did not write myself). But if you search my name on Facebook, the only page with any content is the other Steve. And obviously, considering the few similarities (which does not include my politics by any means), people may think thet he is me.

    So how do you know if my Facebook page is really mine? Simple: Because there’s nothing on it. It’s totally empty. No education references, no friends, no posts of any type. Ditto my recently created linkedin page, which I only created to see if there was any information on the other-other Steve Levicoff.

    In fact, in the years since I’ve had a Facebook page, I only friended one person so I could message him. And then I started getting counterfeit e-mails purportedly from him. In other words, my Facebook account was hacked at an early stage. So I deleted the single friending I had made and left the page totally blank. Which is fine, since I am into social media about as much as I’m into television. Which is not at all. (In 20 years of driving, I have never had a TV on board my truck. And haven’t missed it at all. I also have a plain old flip phone, and have never typed with my thumbs.)

    All in all, however, life is good. At one time, if you Googled “Levicoff” I was the first one who showed up, and the entire first page of hits would be related to me. But I’ve been “retired” from the non-traditional education field long enough that if you Google only my last name, a bunch of other Levicoffs show up before I even make an appearance. And if it wasn't for my Wiki bio, I wouldn’t show up on the first page of hits at all.

    Social media does nothing for me. I even took down my old web site several years ago because I wanted to fall into the background of public life. Despite that, I’m fascinated at the number of “people you may know” that show up when I log onto Facebook or linkedin that I actually do know. I can only assume that they show up because, at one time or another, they punched up my (empty) page.

    A quick note to those who have asked me to “friend” them or link to them: Don’t take it personally when I ignore your invitation. I literally never use these sites unless it’s to access, say, a theatre’s Facebook page. And based on behaviors like we see from the friendly folk at, say, DLT, I’d rather not expose others to harassment from the Internet whack jobs out there. I may maintain a limited Internet presence here at DI, but I can understand why folks such as Tom Nixon, Tom Head, Dennis Huber, George Gollin, Rich Douglas, etc. dropped off the non-traditional education forums. Dealing with psychos is occasionally fun, but I don’t desire a constant diet of it.
     
  2. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Oh wow, what a predicament! I am lucky. Very few people have my first name, and my last name. There are only less than 50 people in the US with my last name. I am lucky!
     
  3. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    :lmao:

    The spelling of my last name is uncommon, at least in the United States (very common in Scotland), but not nearly as rare as Levicoff. There was one other Bruce Tait in Massachusetts, way out in Holyoke, but he passed away a couple of years ago (I assume natural causes, he was in his 80's when he passed).

    If you Google my name, the first page of hits is some guy with the same name who sells high-end yachts at the Hamptons in New York, which is ironic because I know little about watercraft, other than the pointy end is the bow. You have to get to Page 3 to find the me Bruce Tait, and that's an entry from DL Truth. :biggrin:
     
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I searched Google for my own name and found the freakiest coincidence. There's this guy with the same name as me who has posted 5,936 times on a site with the same name as this one.

    It gets weirder!

    If you Google "The REAL Steve Levicoff???" you get this link on the first page: http://www.degreeinfo.com/off-topic-discussions/54369-real-steve-levicoff.html

    Seems like just another forum thread, until you compare it side by side with this one to find out that they are, in fact, word-for-word EXACTLY the same- including THIS very post that I'm in the middle of writing. What? Huh? How is that even possible?!?!?!?! It's like that scene from Spaceballs, only this is real life and whatever is happening NOW is happening NOW!

    I'm afraid to find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes, but I don't think I can stop myself at this point. I MUST HAVE ANSWERS!!!!
     
  5. TomE

    TomE New Member

  6. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Wow, the other Steve Levicoff seems like a totally awesome guy, if your description of him is accurate! :)

    Steve, I have a confession to make. I love you. I can't help it. It's a genuine "man crush." It's purely platonic (of course), but the secret is finally out of the closet! LOL :)
     
  7. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    May I have your attention please? Will the real Steve Levicoff please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?
     
  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    No disrespect to others who share your name, Steve - but to us on DI (and many others) you and only you are the REAL Steve Levicoff - we accept no substitutes. :smile:

    J.
     
  9. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    Gisella Berzeryck Piffle

    Long ago, the humorist Billy Rose discovered the above name in the Hollywood phone book, called her up, and reported the conversation.

    Rose: Hi, I'm trying to reach Gisella.
    She: This is Gisella.
    Rose: Gisella Piffle?
    She: Yes, I am Gisella Piffle.
    Rose: Gisella Berzeryck Piffle?
    She: Yes, I am Gisella Berzeryck Piffle.
    Rose: Are you the Gisella Berzeryck Piffle who went to Antelope Valley High School?
    She: I did not go to Antelope Valley High School.
    Rose: I'm so sorry, I must have reached the wrong Gisella Berzeryck Piffle. (hangs up)
     
  10. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Well, I though of starting a new thread titled, "Is Steve Levicoff dead?" But I decided that would provide false hope to the guys over at DLT, so I thought better of it.

    But the question arises because the other Steve Levicoff, who has consistently posted links to right-wing radio hosts on his Facebook page every day, has not made a post at all since August 6th.

    Not a single post in over two months? I don't wish him any harm, despite his being a thorn in my side, but one has to wonder if he's still alive and well . . .
    :drive:
     
  11. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Thank God nobody has my weird name. I have a Jewish first name and a Catalan last name. My last name is almost non existent in this country. I wouldn't want to be confused for an extreme right wing nut job!
     
  12. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 12, 2017
  13. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    Abner, why do you propose that someone might be confused about you being a nutjob? Can you please explain a little bit more?
     
  14. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    There's nothing to explain. Just look at the "Steve Levicoff" That decimon exposed! Why waste my breath! Since my name is so unique, I do not worry about about being confused for a right wing nut job! Thank god for my unique name.
     
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    It certainly could be, but I have no further info, other than Arizona Steve and Haifa Steve both appear to be the same age - 75. If our Steve wants to contact Haifa Steve - I did find an email address for him; don't know if it's still any good. Dr. Steve can PM me if he wants it. Or not, if he doesn't...

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 12, 2017
  16. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    Yeah, it's Haifa one, Arizona of the other.
     
  17. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    It's cool, Abner, I'm sure that none of us will confuse you with me again.
    :drive:
    ____________________________

    (Sorry, me again, couldn't resist.)
     
  18. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    This is a blast from the past, but rather than start a new thread I thought I'd just tag this one to note two developments . . .

    First, the other Steve Levicoff's Facebook page has not had a new post since August 6, 2017, two years ago as of this week. Is he still alive (he would now be 77)? I've got no idea, nor is it even on my mind these days.

    Second, today I came across what appears to be a fairly new web page titled "Steve Levicoff, Dead or Alive," which does purport to be about me - it's at https://deadorkicking.com/steve-levicoff-dead-or-alive. It's a short little ditty that concludes that I am, indeed, "alive and kicking." But it includes a photo that purports to be me. The photo is actually Eric Levicoff, a surgeon and distant relative, who has become prominent enough to have overtaken me in terms of hits if you do a Google search on just my last name. My retirement from higher education has been quite successful in that a search on just Levicoff used to focus on me, but now if the first page of returns has one hit about me, that's a lot.

    One other thing at which I've always been successful is keeping my photo from appearing online anywhere. Even if you google "Steve Levicoff photos" you won't find any of me. I don't know who most of the people are who come up in a photo search of me, but I can tell you that the photos have, in the past, included both George Gollin and Alan Contreras. Go figure.
     
  19. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Quite clearly, he is sufficiently on your mind that you bothered to look him up (again) and also to post about it. No matter, I hope you're both OK.
    But maybe this is a sign, a signal. Maybe you're in some sort of fugue state and you've gone off and created another life using the same name. You could be married and have a parcel of kids. You might still be driving a truck. It's also possible that both Levicoffs are registered at DegreeInfo and maybe only half the posts are yours. I really think you need to find this "other" Levicoff.

    BTW - there is another Kizmet and if you look her up you will see a whole lot of her because she's a stripper or a porn star or something. It's not me though, not even close.
     
  20. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    On another unrelated note, we recently saw the triumphant return of Rich Douglas, who was banned for 30 days on 7/18/16 but did not return to us until 6/13/19, an absence of almost three years. As he noted in his sig file before disappearing, me again was also banned for 30 days on 10/12/18 and has still not returned.

    Hopefully this means that he is doing what he should have been doing all along - attending to his program at Franciscan U. of Steubenville. And hopefully, if he ever returns to us, he will not do so at the peak of the next presidential election. As a Trump fan(atic), he has already been replaced in this forum by rodmc.

     

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