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Beitman the Artist
Today, 12 February 2024, while seated at Roggenart Cafe in Towson, Maryland with my friend Ron, an 80-year-old Vietnam veteran, discussing Dr. Bernard Beitman’s project on coincidences, among other subjects, I noticed a framed pastel portrait for sale hanging on the wall right next to me at my booth.
It was a fine, full-length pastel portrait of a small boy. I suddenly noticed the name of the artist: Darbie Beitman. I checked the spelling. It’s the same name! Then I looked up the prevalence of this name in America. Only 440 people bear this surname in America. This makes the odds 440 to 330 million, or almost a million to one, of encountering that last name.
Add to this the fact that I had just mentioned his name earlier, and I was seated right next to a portrait painted by someone with that last name (who is probably related to Mr. Beitman), and we have an extraordinary coincidence!
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