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Article: Something Wilde in his past: Grandson gets to know the `Oscar' he never met.(Metropolitan)(Life)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- September 10, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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One good name deserves another. It's one thing to be known as Oscar Wilde's grandson, but imagine growing up with the curious first name of Merlin.
That sounds like a stage name - except that Merlin Holland has no connection with the theater world, in which his famous, flamboyant relative flourished.
The legacy, however, does leave its mark. It has taken Mr. Holland, 54, several decades to come to grips with his fate as the only direct descendant of the famous 19th-century Irish wit and playwright who blatantly challenged the morals and hypocrisy of Victorian England.
Merlin, after all, is tame compared to his grandfather's complete birth ...