"Windy City" plagiarism (part one)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

I've been trying to send this e-mail for almost twelve hours. I'll break it 
into parts:
  
JONATHAN BOYD + WINDY CITY--4 Google hits (2 from this site, the only 
relevant ones), 0 Google Groups hits
  
POPIK + WINDY CITY + 1885--469 Google hits, 4 Google Groups hits
  
Yeah, it's that bad. Worse.
  
http://www.jonboyd.org/news/000046.php
"Windy City" Article Published 
Back in 1999, I drafted an article on the significance and origins of 
Chicago's nickname, "Windy City." Finally, the Encyclopedia of Chicago hits the 
streets. 
(...)

> Early uses of the term appear in Cleveland (1885) and Louisville (1886) 
> newspapers, and the 1885 appearance of the label in a headline suggests the 
> possibility that this was not its initial invocation. It may well have been 
> Chicago's urban rivals who coined a nickname, in derision, which has come to be 
> adopted with pride.

  
Who found that Cleveland 1885 citation? Who found that Louisville 1886 
citation? Both were found by the same person. It was me--Barry Popik. I received no 
credit and no compensation.
  
The Encyclopedia of Chicago entry has a huge reproduction of the 1885 
Cleveland Gazette citation. My name is attached to that citation in over 100 web 
pages, but is conveniently "forgotten" here. It gets worse.
  
Boyd writes that Wellington, New Zealand is also called the "Windy City." 
Very good. I've been there. Ever been to Port Elizabeth, South Africa? I've been 
there, too. Did you know that it's also called the "Windy City"?
  
Ever been to Troy? I went to school in Troy, New York. I visited "Troy" in 
Turkey. Homer famously called it a "windy" place, but you'd never know that.
  
The 1893 World's Fair myth involving New York Sun editor Charles Dana is 
never mentioned.
  
I wrote to Boyd recently. In his recent web entry (dated September 24th), he 
defends himself, without even mentioning "Barry Popik" (called here "dramatis 
personae") or any of the facts:
    
  
http://www.jonboyd.org/news/000046.php
Controversy
  
By the way, believe it or not, the history of this nickname has generated no 
small controversy in certain circles. (For a good introductcion to the issue 
and the dramatis personæ, see Cecil Adams's "Straight Dope" column on the 
subject.)  
  
So it's important to note several features of the EC article:
  
Meaning before ancestry 
  
It focuses on the cultural significance and historical context of the term, 
not the history of its origins (though without neglecting the latter). 
Hopefully readers will find the information about geography, politics, and culture 
alike interesting on their own terms.
  
No superlatives 
  
It makes no assertions about the first use of the term. (Responsible 
etymologists never claim to pinpoint origins.) And it certainly doesn't peddle any of 
the old tales (notably the Charles Dana myth) about the nickname's paternity. 
No one owns the phrase "Windy City."
  
Perhaps less hot air and intercity acrimony will be let loose upon the 
publication of the Encyclopedia than was by the politicians and boosters who 
prompted the nickname in the first place. 

  
"Meaning before ancestry"? What the hell does that mean? He basically admits 
that he doesn't know anything about the origin of "Windy City," but ah! He 
alone knows the "meaning"!
  
"Responsible etymologists never claim to pinpoint origins"? A clear crack at 
Barry Popik, who is often referred to as an "etymologist" because he writes 
for Gerald Cohen's COMMENTS ON ETYMOLOGY. So I found "Windy City" in 1876 
because I was goddamn irresponsible? I traced it to Cincinnati, through extremely 
hard work, because I'm irresponsible? I don't think so.
    
Here's the deal:
  
1. Boyd's "Windy City" work is plagiarized from me.
  
2. The editors of the Encyclopedia of Chicago had known about the plagiarism 
about a year and a half ago, but allowed it to appear in print. Unchanged.
  
3. The editors of the Encyclopedia of Chicago also knew that I had even 
better "Windy City" work, but they did not think that it was worth it to submit a 
corrected product for the Encyclopedia's readers.
  
It's been ten years of this misery, but this put the official stamp on it. 
The Chicago Tribune's "Ask Tom Why" weatherman will still get it wrong. The 
Chicago Public Library will still get it wrong. Maybe even the Chicago Historical 
Society--where this all started, and which is the co-publisher of the 
book--will still get it wrong.
  
About seven years ago, the Chicago City Council officially apologized to a 
dead cow about the Great Chicago Fire.
  
In lieu of any payment or credit to me--which will probably never 
come--Chicago must apologize to New York, the New York Sun (still publishing), and to 
Charles Dana. This apology is long overdue. We are surely as important as a dead 
cow