If you reach the highest levels of your chosen field, certain benefits accrue. For starters you are likely to get paid more, either in salary, fees, winnings, or a combination of all three. Aaron Judge has a one year $19 million dollar contract, but that is nothing compared to the next one he will likely get after his record setting year. You also might be asked to give your endorsement to a product, place or service, sometimes associated with what you do, other times just to use your reflected light. Michael Jordan made millions with his Air Jordan line of sneakers, and it wasn't hard to believe he wore them. Ted Danson endorses Consumer Cellular discount phone service, but odds are he has a Verizon Family Plan.
Beyond compensation there are accolades that might also come your way. While there might be monetary awards associated with them, these are more about recognition than the dollar amount. There might be awards for outstanding performance given by your peers and fellow travelers, like Emmys and Oscars. Or they might also be bestowed by an outside third party who surveys a field and picks standouts, such as the Pulitzers and MacArthurs.
But perhaps the highest symbol of acclaim is when something gets named for you. There is nothing more tangible than honoring a person with a physical something, and knowing that your name will cross other people's lips as part of their everyday routine. The reason can be for a singular event either tragic or heroic that demands to be recognized, or excellence in a particular field or a body of work. Train stations and civic buildings bear the names of innumerable public servants, some recognized while alive and many after their passing. Meanwhile, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center recognizes all that she has accomplished, and the only perk there is likely good seats whenever she wants them.
This month brought the latest of these honors for one celebrity. Novak Djokovic is one of the best tennis players in the world, with 90 singles and 38 Masters titles to his name. Along with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, this third member of the "Big Three" has defined the sport for two decades and has been suitable recognized. Along with his tournament wins and tennis titles, he has been named GQ Ace of the Year, BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, along with a host of other "bests." Closer to home, he has been given the Order of Karadorde's Star, First Class by the President of Serbia, and the Key to the City of Banja Luka.
For any one man, that should be enough for a lifetime. But Dr. Nikola Vesović wanted to add to that list of local recognitions. A researcher in the faculty at the University of Belgrade in Serbia, he posted a new find to his Instagram account: "I have the honor and pleasure to announce the discovery of a new insect species from western Serbia that was previously unknown to science. It is a specialized, blind, subterranean ground beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) found in a pit near the town of Ljubovija. A scientific paper on the description of the new species was recently published in the prominent journal Annales Zoologici Fennici. As a sign of gratitude and our need to give back to Novak in our own way, we decided to name the new species after him – Duvalius djokovici."
The beetle joins other notable natural namesakes. There's the parasite that makes its caterpillar host twist and contort it abdomen, so the scientists named it Aleiodes shakirae after singer (Hips Don't Lie) Shakira. There's the horse fly that is solid black except for its gold butt who now goes by Scaptia beyonceae after singer (Bootylicious) Beyonce'. And there's the beetle with the huge leg muscles that is called Agra schwarzeneggeri after an Arnold of the same name. But just to be clear, the parasitic wasp named Idris elba is NOT named for actor Idris Elba: its mom was there first.
So poo on getting a Tony or Presidential Medal of Freedom or a Nobel. A bridge or a post office? Been there, done that. You'll know you've made it when they name a fern or an ant or a lizard after you. That group of spiders over there? Very complex, which is why they are called Pinkfloydia.
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Marc Wollin of Bedford has his name on his checks. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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