Photo: America’s senior class photo, 1994.

Trout Fishing In America
Carpinteria High School Class of 1994
We live in a world fascinated by identity changes. In the movies, Clark Kent became Superman; in the classics, Dr. Jekyll became Mr. Hyde; and in Carpinteria, Peter Eastman became Trout Fishing In America. Just like the others, Eastman’s change intrigued the world and resulted in national attention for the Carpinteria High School senior.

“I thought to myself, ‘What happens if I change my name to something removed from the well-trodden path? How much of someone’s name involves their identity, and will it change who you are if you change your name?’” questioned America.

Rewind to 1994. Peter Eastman is 17 years old. On a book shelf at home sits Richard Brautigan’s cult classic “Trout Fishing In America,” a gift from Eastman’s father. One day in class, Eastman and his fellow classmates receive a form from the school’s administration on which they each must write the name he or she would prefer to be announced at Carpinteria High School’s upcoming graduation. While some seniors include their middle names and others add “Jr.” to their names, Eastman writes “Trout Fishing in America” on a whim. He turned it in to the office.

“I was promptly summoned and told I could not, under any circumstance, do this,” America stated. “Even though I was being flippant, I was irritated. Who has the right to tell me who the hell I am, or who I cannot be?”

The administration told him that, in fact, the law dictated who he could be, so Eastman decided to let the law know about his new name. As a graduation gift, his father paid the legal fees, and well before Eastman crossed the stage to receive his diploma, he was officially Trout Fishing In America.

The unique name change did much more than cause giggles in the graduation audience, it turned Trout Fishing In America into a national celebrity. Local newspapers immediately printed the story on America. Soon after, the Associated Press picked up the story, and the spotlight grew brighter from there.

“For the next three weeks, the phone rang off the hook,” stated Eastman. “I expected there to be some local talking: ‘that Peter kid finally flipped ya know…’ But I never expected so many people would find the story interesting.”

Worldwide radio stations and national television shows sought out interviews with the Carpinteria teenager with a bizarre new name. He appeared on “Good Morning America” and “The Leeza Show” describing his reasons for the unusual switch. And although America described the high school administration as “displeased,” the new name reverberated throughout the amphitheatre on graduation night and appeared in permanent ink on America’s diploma. One of his two diplomas, that is. Carpinteria High School also awarded America a diploma with the name Peter Eastman, “so that when the joke was over I’d still be legal.”

Eleven years later, America’s name is no less unique but clearly no joke either. The name buzz died down after graduation, but America packed his suitcases and brought his new name with him to Marlboro College in Vermont. He continued to wear the strange moniker until it fit him very comfortably and he identified with Trout more strongly than Peter.

After writing a novel and working in numerous bookstores, America returned to Carpinteria to help his father, Peter Eastman, Sr., finish building a 35-foot catamaran. Together, they sailed the ship from Santa Barbara to Tahiti. America island-hopped from Tahiti throughout the South Pacific, eventually landing in Japan, his current home. He now teaches English as an assistant language teacher in a junior high and a primary school.

He still gets quizzical looks when introducing himself, and once in a while someone remembers the 1994 hype about the kid who changed his name to Trout Fishing in America. America’s actual identity may not have changed much with the interesting new label, but he acknowledges the significance of the change. “It reminds me all the time that I do have a choice in who I want to be and how I want to view the world.”