Twins separated at birth led eerily similar lives(1979)

When identical twins James Arthur Springer and James Edward Lewis were reunited last February, after spending all but the first four weeks of their 39 years apart, they discovered that, despite the long separation, their lives had been astonishingly similar. Aside from sharing a given name:

■ Each married and then divorced a woman named Linda. Their second wives were both named Betty.

■ Springer named his first son James Allan. Lewis named his first son James Alan

■ Each man grew up with an adopted brother named Larry.

■ During childhood, each owned a dog named Toy.

■ Both twins had law‐en forcement training and had worked part time as deputy sheriffs in their Ohio towns 70 miles apart.

■ They shared many common interests, such as mechanical drawing, block lettering and carpentry.

■ Both said their favorite school subject was math, their least favorite, spelling.

■ They vacationed at the same, three‐block‐long beach near St. Petersburg, Fla., both getting there and back in a Chevrolet.

■ Their smoking and drinking patterns were nearly identical.

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eman623 said:

I don't think people are genetically predisposed to marry people named "Linda" or "Betty", or to get an adopted brother named "Larry".

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eman623 said:

OTOH, liking math and hating spelling is very likely genetics, or at least genetics-related. And their love of carpentry and working as deputy sheriffs may be due to them both being large, active men.

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Helix said:

Nature vs nurture is an interesting discussion. Some of the above examples seem to be purely coincidence, but a lot of it probably isn't. I have examined how closely I resemble my mom, dad, and grandparents, and I can find evidence for both.

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Chock Full o Nuts said:

All the names are one hell of a coincidence!

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