Seen together for the FIRST time: Scott Maxwell and Slats Murphy

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell went public today with a rumor that has been circulating around central Florida for the past several weeks:  that he and Seminole County Watch senior columnist Slats Murphy are one and the same person.

The story has been floating around for weeks, gaining legs as it gets passed from one person to another.  Finally, in today's column, Maxwell goes public with the story, referring to a letter from a reader named Morris.

In the "Mail Call" section of his column, Maxwell printed the following:

Morris writes: Someone told me they think you may be Slats Murphy, having fun under an assumed name. If you are, please know that I would personally love to shove that lit cigar down your throat.

First of all, Morris, I appreciate you making the whole shoving-the-lit-cigar-down-my-throat conditional upon something. At least one member of Congress would like to see that, regardless of whether I have an alter ego. As for your question: No, I'm not the guy who posts columns about politics in Seminole County at seminolecountywatch.com. (I actually have this other little venue in which to write.) As for who "Slats" is, I don't know. He wouldn't tell me, quoting someone as saying "you should never try to unmask the Lone Ranger." He seems to follow politics in Seminole pretty closely and seems observant and plugged in. Still, I'm prone to put more trust in what I read when I know who's really writing it.

Murphy acknowledged the rumors after laughing heartily for several moments.

"Slats first heard that one a while ago and got a charge from it," said Murphy.  "When I heard the story behind it, all I could do was shake my head and say you have to give the readers credit.  They know how to put the clues together."

Murphy explained the reasons substantiating the belief:

• "The story goes that Scott is locked in at the Sentinel to writing only about certain things, and that he has a lot of leftover material that he does not get to use.
• "Scott is also believed to live in Seminole County, so it would be an obvious focus for him to maintain in his website.
• "Scott and I have never been seen in the same room together at the same time.
• "And, finally, for the coup de grace, we share the same intials, which is the ultimate punchline to this little inside joke.  More than a coincidence, they are a clever clue to be picked up upon by alert readers."

"You know," said Murphy, "the funny thing about it is that is all makes a bit of sense, and if it were true, the most logical thing for Maxwell to do would be to make light of it and attempt to send readers off in a different direction.

"Sort of like the old Shakespeare thing about 'doth protesting too much'."

Murphy sees only one problem with the theory.

"I'm a much better writer," said Slats.  "But then again, focusing on Seminole County politicos gives me much better material."

Scott Maxwell and Slats Murphy the same person?  Nah, it couldn't be, could it?