VIRGINIA BEACH
Judges normally sign orders for name changes without a hearing. But this one was different, and Circuit Judge H. Thomas Padrick Jr. wanted to know more.
So he called Prescott “Pete” Tracey Jr. to the bench.
Tracey, his head shaved bald and sporting 13 piercings, said he apologized for his shorts and cutoff T-shirt. Then he explained why his name would no longer do.
Padrick, he said, heard him out, made a few suggestions, then reminded Tracey that he’d have a birthday soon.
No problem, Tracey recalled telling the judge. He was in the midst of the best year of his life and that would never change.
“If you sign the paper,” Tracey said, “I will always be 50.”
And so, an order transforming Prescott Tracey Jr. to Wiserman Always Fifty was signed on Sept. 18, 2007, and recorded at 12:54 p.m. in the city’s deed book, where they index old and new names.
Dozens of less dramatic name change petitions make their way to the civil division of the clerk’s office each week.
People have all sorts of reasons.
Maybe they want their maiden name back after a bad life decision. Maybe no one knew how to spell their given name anyway. Maybe their name is John but they had gone by Jack all their lives. Maybe they would rather be known by their initials. Or maybe they are women trapped in men’s bodies.
The process isn’t complicated, and the law has not changed much since it was written into the books in 1950. Just endorse a check for $34 and swear under oath that the name change was not made for fraudulent purposes. That’s it.
Wiserman, now 51, has told his life story many times. How he sought but never received approval from his father, who treated him like “dirt.” How after tending to three marriages and everyone else’s children, he always fell short of success.
How with that disappointment, he sank deeper into fifths of brandy.
How, in August of 2007, he checked himself into an alcohol treatment program and got sober, a place to live and a job.
His is meat-and-potatoes thinking. Wiserman believes that if one thing had to change, it was everything. In essence, he has reinvented himself, and said he’s living life on his terms. He became a wiser man at 50.
“I was an unhappy person who did not have self-esteem,” he said. “Now, I can’t get enough of myself.”
Wiserman views his new name, and the furrowed eyebrows that it provokes, as a stamp of achievement. He hands out calling cards and has vanity tags on his pickup reading WISRMAN (He was only allowed seven letters.).
Wiserman, who lives off Dam Neck Road and works a third shift at a steel mill, joked about telling a woman that if they got hitched, it would be 50-Fifty. They could name a son Buck, so he would be Buck Fifty.
Not everyone is laughing.
His mother, who named him, and some others refuse to acknowledge the change.
Does that bother him?
“That’s on her,” Wiserman said. “Now it’s my time.”
His father, he said, still doesn’t know.
And the tattoo on his arm that once identified him as “Pete” has been covered over by one of a dolphin. It was a lot more painful and cost a lot more money to have that name removed.
Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com
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No News is good news!
Why do so many of you all complain that this is not "news" worthy?? Isn't it nice to sometimes read articles other than ones talking about all the murders that happen here in the area?? Or how a child has been neglected?
Personally I think its great to read something not so depressing!
Kudos to you Mr. 50! :)
name change
i happen to know this man. he is one of the most down to earth and real people i know. i have alot of respect for his choice to make the changes he did. it takes alot of courage. im proud to say i know him and so would anyone who made the effort to get to know him.
Change comes from within
If he has to change his name to that, and show how he can't get enough of himself now, then this guy still has some issues. lour is right. But I guess he got the attention he wanted with this stupid story.
Name Change
It's good hear of some one trying to release themselves of destructive and negative behavior while trying evolve into a better self, no matter the method. The opposite seems to be true of those who insult and try to denigrate him - those who are moving in the opposite direction. Archie Bunker was a character we could pianfully laugh while looking in the mirror. Some people need more reflection.
Man trapped in mans' body
How bout that lil guy from Total Recall Quattro? He came out of that guy's stomach compartment or something like that. Man some folks are so shallow!!
The court's do post dress and etiquette rules. That may have been his reason for apologizing.
Life aint easy. Self pity can cause us to rut, or cocoon and to lose focus on the larger picture. While finding and implementing a reason to help others, he will find a way to fight through his own disappointments. He can change his name but, unless he changes his mind set, and decisions he will get the same results. No man or woman can run away from themselves. Nor any man/woman or, woman/man nor Quattro for that matter.
Prescott Tracey Jr, why don't you grown up
"Tracey, his head shaved bald and sporting 13 piercings, said he apologized for his shorts and cutoff T-shirt."
Why did you have to apologize? Could it be that you knew it was non-appropriate attire you were wearing?
No respectable 50 year old man should dress the way you do. Instead of looking younger you portray a freakish appearance. Prescott Tracey Jr, why don't you grown up.
OK
I'm not sure this is news-worthy, but if the guy is happy with the changes he's making in his life, more power to him.
Yes soldier,
you are missing the sentence that... there are a lot of reasons people change their name, one being a woman trapped in a man's body.
I'm wondering..
Does this make him in some way related to 50-Cent? :D
Good weekend story...good for a chuckle.
Name Change
The Pilot finds a new low in "news" coverage. Seems to be a daily event anymore.
Thanks Pilot!
Thank you for brining us this important story. What, no "Man bites dog" today?
Slow News Day?
Not enough full page ads or other fluff to fill the paper?
clarification
Huh???
Submitted by 94kSoldier on Sun, 04/27/2008 at 9:01 am.
Am I missing something from the article? What was the first comment all about?
Someone by the name of Spitz posted that a man cannot be trapped in a woman's body so the Pilot deleted the post. Thus the reason for the first post you see.
Huh???
Am I missing something from the article? What was the first comment all about?
Here's to the next 50 years
Way to go Wiserman. Hoping you and the next 50 years are great.
And
This is news ?
Rev
I don't know where your comment is coming from but both men and women can be trapped in wrong body's.