Welcome one and all

Frish has been my nickname forever. Well, at least 35 years or so. It is part of my last name, Frishberg. My whole name is Michael Wolf Frishberg. I've always had a problem pronouncing my last name, so Frish works for me!

The derivation of Frishberg had an odd substantiation last year, when my uncle David Frishberg (a jazz pianist, google him) was playing at a club here in Los Angeles (The Jazz Bakery).

After the first set all Frishberg relations in the audience stood to the side of the theatre and visited with David. Up walked a fellow, who introduced himself as David Frishberg! That was pretty funny all by itself, there aren't many Frishbergs altogether, so it was an odd coincidence that someone named David Frishberg would appear at David Frishberg's concert.

The history of the name Frishberg is murky. There are at least three competing explanations on how our name became Frishberg.

Frishberg is a misspelling of the German: frisch berg - literally, Fresh Mountain. I like to think of myself as a volcano, as that's the freshest possible mountain.

One story had it that the officials at Ellis Island didn't know how to spell Didychus which we believe was the original family name. They knew my great-grandmother was Jewish, and so gave the family a Jewish sounding name.

Another story had it that there was a rich man in the village named Frishberg, so my great-grandmother told the immigration folk that was our name, thinking it would have equal weight in America.

Now however, David Frishberg (the younger), had it that there was a wealthy patriarch in the village named Frishberg who sponsored many of the villagers as they emigrated to the U.S. and so, they had his name. That basically confirmed another of the stories that my family also told.

There is a law firm in Kiev named Frishberg. Possibly the descendents of said patriarch!

We've discovered at least two strains of Frishbergs, mine is based in Minnesota, and the other branch is East Coast.

How about the rest of my name?

Michael comes from the Hebrew M'hail - "Who is like god?" I believe it is a philosophical question, that is, "Is there anyone like god?" as opposed to the statement "who is like god" refering to person named Michael.

Wolf was the Yiddish name of a great grandfather (Max) who died before I was born. And, yes, it is wolf as in animal, no "e" on the end.

So, my name, translated into "English" =
Who is like god? Wolf Freshmountain

Since I was born in the U.S., I believe that makes me a Native American (indigenous peoples, please forgive me).

Therefore, I have frequently felt I ought to retire to a career on the radio, using the handle "Wolf Freshmountain, Native American".