Shanghaiist inadvertently helps identify amnesia-stricken man in U.S.

Holy cow! We're good for something (other than entertaining a couple of people at work each morning)! A Shanghaiist reader who was trying to contribute a tip saw another link there to this local news story from Seattle.

Basically, a man in his 50s woke up in Discovery Park, Seattle with no clue who he was or how he got there. Blond-haired and be-walrus mustached, he was highly educated, spoke three languages, and was otherwise unharmed. He was wearing pressed khakis, an expensive dress shirt, a blue blazer and had $600 USD hidden in his sock. The medical center that picked him up tagged him "John Doe."

Shanghaiist reader David Akast, while combing through our contribute section, took a look at the picture in the Seattle Times and, with quite a bit of shock, realized he knew that man from Xi'an. The two had met in 2005, when John Doe aka Edward Lightheart had been an English teacher (David said he had an extensive knowledge of European cultural history). So now, though he still hasn't gotten his memory back, at least Edward knows his own name.

Good eye, David! You do Shanghaiist readers proud!