Wood carver whittles down moniker to just one word

One local man's Social Security cards have printed his full name over the years as everything from "Hunter" to "Hunter None," while his current card reads "Unknown Hunter."

Well, they got it right the first time.

Hunter only has one name and he certainly pays a price for all the confusion, but lucky for him, 'good sense of humor' could be his middle name.

"Oh, my favorite line is that I was born during the second World War and many folks were so poor they could only afford one name," he said. "That usually shuts people up. They're afraid to say anything after that."

But it turns out that most people are pretty good-humored, too.

"A lot of people think it's just my nickname at first. But when I explain, I think people understand and kind of get a kick out of it," Hunter said, adding that the whole name thing can actually be a great ice breaker. "I just tell people that 'Hunter' isn't something I just made up. It's the name I was born with."

For proof - or just for kicks - the local wood carving artist often pulls out his driver's license or his passport. Both simply say "Hunter."

The phone book lists his number under the main header for the last name "Hunter," but in a most curious way. Instead of listing a first name his listing simple reads "& Pat," referring to his wife.

Surprisingly all those kinds of official references usually get his name right. It's the mail that's a different story.

"I get things addressed to X Hunter, Mr. Hunter, Mister Hunter," he said, laughing again. "I've even had mail addressed to Mr. Patricia Hunter!"

Companies with catalogues seem to get particularly confused. Sometimes he and his wife may receive up to five copies of the same catalogue - all mailed to different names.

Hunter says the one-name thing was actually no problem at all for years. Then computers came. Electronic forms demanding that everyone have a first and last name have truly plagued Hunter - and many a confused phone representative. Sometimes, just to get around the challenge, phone reps will click in a bogus second name, which is usually erased eventually. If not Hunter gets more mail with more strange names.

"I really try to work with them, because I understand what the problem is."

But there wasn't always a problem.

Hunter used to have a last and middle name, both which are known only by a handful of people walking this earth.

He was born Hunter Albert Schmidt in Portland, Ore. Hunter was actually his mother's maiden name.

Trouble began when he was attending school just after World War II. "First off it wasn't easy having a German last name. That wasn't the thing to be, especially for kids who didn't know any better. I kept telling them 'No, I'm an American.'"

But Hunter wouldn't change his name right away. He first ran off at age 16, heading to Alaska with dreams of prospecting for gold. After he didn't find any treasure he went on to making a living by doing everything from traveling around and selling wood prints and tangram puzzles he made. He also invented and sold a survivor tool, which was just one of his inventions. He also sold intricate wooden boxes to museum gift shops and nature stores for years.

But it was opening a mail box business that finally led to the death of "Schmidt." Hunter was trying to call his business "Hunter's Mail Boxes," but the city insisted that using one's first name in a business title amounts to using an assumed name. The ensuing bureaucratic battle inspired an idea.

"I didn't change my name. I was just dropping something. It really wasn't a big deal," he said. "Besides I'd been known by only my first name for years. Lots of friends didn't even know my last name. I was just 'Hunter.'"

Hunter's kids didn't like their last name of Schmidt either. His daughter changed her last name to "Hunter" after she divorced. His son, meanwhile, changed his name to Hunter Ross, the latter being another family name.

Surprisingly, getting a driver's license with his new name proved an easy affair, which he says probably wouldn't be the case today. To get a passport three friends just had to give written testimonies that they had known him only as "Hunter" for at least 10 years.

Hunter moved to Yuma 12 years ago and has since made quite a name for himself through his miniature wooden carvings. As president of the Yuma Potpourri Artists his name appears a lot in the newspaper, which typically refers to him as the man "who goes by the name 'Hunter,'" much to his chagrin.

Hunter says he used to love the fact that his name was pretty uncommon, but he now he hears the name mentioned in the public sphere quite often.

"The day my wife brought me home a keychain with my name on it, it nearly broke my heart," he said with a chuckle.

But it's the name he's going to stick with and that name alone - even on a tombstone one day.

"I don't know what I'll put," he said before remembering a favorite poem. "Maybe I'll put 'Hunter, home from the hills.'"

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Darin Fenger can be reached at dfenger@yumasun.com or 539-6860.