addendum-- i won. killed the virus, mostly thanks to google.
So Christina Maria Wodtke wrote me back, and we had a good chuckle over the shock of meeting a sort of doppleganger. She pronounces it "vodka," leading to all sort of nicknames-- I'm suddenly glad my family pronounces it "wood-key."
Christina Maria also told me her family had come from the Von Wodtke line, prompting a google search on Von Wodtke (of course) leading me to this like minded Wodtke
Mind Over Media: Creative Thinking Skills for Electronic Media, by Mark von Wodtke. Is it in the genes?