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Jun. 16th, 2004 12:40 am04/25/94
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--Remember the Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue?" Meet Trout.
His new full name is Trout Fishing in America.
Judge Patrick McMahon thought the idea sounded fishy, but he signed papers Friday officially changing 17-year-old Peter Eastman Jr.'s name.
"This may cause you no end of trouble in your life," McMahon cautioned.
Trout said he wanted to name himself after Richard Brautigan's 1967 counterculture book "Trout Fishing in America."
"Most people say this is a cool thing," he said.
So cool, in fact, that he already has reeled in some benefits. He has scheduled an appearance on "Good Morning America," a fishing magazine publisher sent him a jacket emblazoned with a trout and an Arkansas country-blues band sent him T-shirts and compact discs.
The band's name? Trout Fishing in America.
Trout said he wanted his new name on his high school diploma as a way to show his independence.
Carpinteria High School officials balked, so Trout went to court. His father, Peter Eastman Sr., paid the $182 filing fee as a graduation present.
"I am proud of Trout," Eastman said. "The change in names has not interrupted our relationship. I will address him as Trout because that honors his choice."
Trout said he made it through one of the toughest tests when police stopped him for driving through a red light.
"I signed the ticket 'Trout America,"' he said. "The police didn't say a word."
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--Remember the Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue?" Meet Trout.
His new full name is Trout Fishing in America.
Judge Patrick McMahon thought the idea sounded fishy, but he signed papers Friday officially changing 17-year-old Peter Eastman Jr.'s name.
"This may cause you no end of trouble in your life," McMahon cautioned.
Trout said he wanted to name himself after Richard Brautigan's 1967 counterculture book "Trout Fishing in America."
"Most people say this is a cool thing," he said.
So cool, in fact, that he already has reeled in some benefits. He has scheduled an appearance on "Good Morning America," a fishing magazine publisher sent him a jacket emblazoned with a trout and an Arkansas country-blues band sent him T-shirts and compact discs.
The band's name? Trout Fishing in America.
Trout said he wanted his new name on his high school diploma as a way to show his independence.
Carpinteria High School officials balked, so Trout went to court. His father, Peter Eastman Sr., paid the $182 filing fee as a graduation present.
"I am proud of Trout," Eastman said. "The change in names has not interrupted our relationship. I will address him as Trout because that honors his choice."
Trout said he made it through one of the toughest tests when police stopped him for driving through a red light.
"I signed the ticket 'Trout America,"' he said. "The police didn't say a word."
