The Story of the "8" in Jennifer 8. Lee

[Seth Finkelstein]

http://www.girlhacker.com/2001_01_01_archive.html#1991206

Has the NY Times developed a quirky sense of humor? Or is the author
of this article really named Jennifer 8. Lee? The article is about
the demand for phone numbers with lucky digits in China. A man paid
$2,500 for 8889988 at a charity auction. Cell phone stores advertise
their best numbers.  Discounted numbers (ending with unlucky 4s) are
sold below cost. But there are customers who refuse to pay more for
lucky numbers. At any rate, Jennifer 8. Lee is looking for prosperity
in her byline, and it seems The Old Grey Lady is happy to play
along. It's not so grey anymore anyway with the color photos that
still take me by surprise. (Update: Turns out Jennifer just has very
cool parents! They wanted to give her a unique name, Jennifer Lee
being very popular. So 8. it was. I had done a search in the NY Times
archives for "Jennifer Lee" when I wrote the post to see if she
usually used the 8, but the search engine was too smart and didn't
return any "Jennifer 8. Lee"s, just "Jennifer Lee" in a few
places. But I should have searched for "Jennifer 8. Lee" to begin
with. Actually I should have remembered I've read plenty of her
8. bylined articles already. Thanks for the info, Seth Gordon!)  a

http://members.aol.com/ogit1/eight.html

NATE PARSONS, ANNAPOLIS, MD

Some people have ask what is the deal with the Washinton Post's Metro
reporter Jennifer 8 Lee. Well here it is... Jennifer's parents are
from China, where there about 200 million people have the last name
"Lee." To impart a sense of individuality they gave her the middle
name "8," which has special meaning to the Chinese. It means luck,
good fortune, security and strength.

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