J.R. Hartley

The first scene showed an elderly man going into several bookshops asking for a book called Fly Fishing by an author named "J R Hartley". Every attempt failed, and the next scene showed him at home looking dejected. His daughter, sympathising, passed him the Yellow Pages and the next scene showed him looking delighted as a bookshop replies that they have a copy of the book. He asks them to keep it for him, and they ask his name. He replies, "It's Hartley -- J.R. Hartley".

The non-existent Hartley became something of a cult figure, to the extent that an author who later brought out a book about fly-fishing[?] published it under the pseudonym, J R Hartley.