Setting aside the health implications of fast-food pioneer Wilber Hardee's death at the advanced age of 89, one is drawn to the mystery of his first name. No one seems to know how to spell it. The Times went with "Wilber" for its obit. But hey, Times, how about fact-checking your journalism with that most august and reliable of primary sources, the Hardee's Cool Kids website? As show above and to the right, it renders the name "Wilbur," as do about 3,140 Web pages in Google's index in an exact-phrase search, vs. just 1,510 for "Wilber." And "Wilbur" also wins in a Google News search, with 54 uses (including AP!) vs. just "about 10" for "Wilbur." But wait, there are so many more wrinkles to this obit mystery!

Isn't the company info page on the main Hardees.com site a better source of intelligence than the Hardee's Cool Kids website? It has the name as "Wilber," as shown at top and on the left. So even the guy's own company can't figure out the right spelling.

UPDATE: But the main company press release has it as "Wilbur." Aghhhhh!

UPDATE2: (The company press release also gives a date of birth one year earlier than that given by the Times.)

Maybe everyone at Hardee's is so used to just selecting hamburger and french fry icons on those touch-screen ordering stations that they've forgotten how to properly write.

The most fascinating possibility comes from the website Dos Factotum, which theorizes that Hardee might have swung both ways, name-wise. Kinky! But is anyone ever, truly, bi? Maybe Wilbur just couldn't accept that he was really "Wilber," because of, you know, society.

[Dos Factotum]