Theodore Kermit Scott was a boyhood playmate of
Muppets creator
Jim Henson. They were classmates at
Leland Elementary School in
Mississippi. Years later, when Henson created
Kermit the Frog, he was inspired by the
bullfrogs he heard roaming around
Deer Creek with his friend and used his friend’s middle name for the character.
Scott went on to become a professor (now
professor emeritus) of
philosophy at
Purdue University and is the author of several books on Saint
Augustine. Of being a frog’s namesake, he said "I can think of a lot worse things I could be associated with."
quote from http://www.linguafranca.com/9512/kermit.html