I don?t know how embarrassing this is to admit, but I?m going to, because it so surprised

me.

I always thought Walter Mitty was a real person. Had no idea at all it was a fictional character. I don?t know where I?ve got this from, but I always thought the ?real? original Walter Mitty was associated with Al Capone, got arrested by the old bill, sang like a bird about all his big time connections with Capone?s mob, but eventually just turned out to be a small time crook with massive fantasies of being connected to Capone and influential. And I thought that was where the term ?a Walter Mitty character? came from.

Dunno, I guess I once saw a documentary about Capone when I was young, where a small-time fantasist crook tried to play Big Time Crook, got found out and referred to as ?a Walter Mitty?, and not knowing who Walter Mitty was, I misunderstood and thought this guy *was* Walter Mitty, and that was the origin of it.

So, I just looked him up. Turns out he?s from a book. Every day is a school day.

Thicky.

Posted By: Arizona Bay, Nov 21, 11:35:39