James-Michael Maume Alameda was a 19-year-old radio DJ wannabe when he legally changed his name to Obi-Wan Kenobi in May 1999.
Yes, that Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Master who taught using the power of the Force to battle the forces of evil in the “Star Wars” series of blockbuster films.
Alameda — we mean Kenobi — changed his name as part of a contest sponsored by Tucson radio station 93.7 KRQ. The prize: $1,000 cash and a regular, albeit barely paid, gig with the old KRQ morning show “Mojo & Betsy.”
The name change turned out to be a career launcher for Kenobi.
“I actually got the job with KRQ after I won their contest. About five years ago I became the morning show producer for KNST, which is the news talk station” owned by KRQ parent iHeartMedia Inc. “I still do weekends on KRQ, and my third job I am the head DJ and the entertainment coordinator for Reflections at the Buttes, which is a wedding venue on North Oracle Road.”
Some brides and grooms think it’s pretty cool to have Obi-Wan Kenobi DJ their wedding reception, he added with laugh.
He was one of two Tucsonans to legally change their name to Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1999, when Lucas Films released the much anticipated “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.” Two years later, the first Tucson Obi-Wan changed his name back to James Terry Wilkowski, mild-mannered father of three.
Kenobi No. 2 has never wavered on his devotion to his name of choice.
“I always said I would never change it (back) unless it was my grandmother’s dying wish on her death bed, or I met a girl and she didn’t want me to have that name,” said Kenobi, 36.
He met and married the girl — she never knew him as James Alameda — and they have two kids, 4-year-old Jenna and 18-month-old Cody. His wife and kids all go by his original last name, Alameda.
“She still calls me Obi and she thinks it’s weird to hear somebody use the name James, but she didn’t want a fake last name is how she put it,” he explained.
Kenobi admitted there are certain hiccups to having the name Obi-Wan Kenobi. He routinely has to spend extra time at airport security and he rarely, if ever, gets taken seriously enough to be picked for a jury. And he admits to shrinking a bit when the DMV clerk calls out his name when he gets a new license.
But the novelty of his name never gets old, he said.
“I love it,” Kenobi said. “It’s one of those funny stories that you’ve always got to talk about. As long as they get a kick out of it, I like telling the story.”
