Bart Ehrman Asked about ME!

There I was reading along in professor Bart Ehrman's book, Did Jesus Exist?, not suspecting for the world that he had ever given my existence a second thought, when out of nowhere there it was on page 39:

"How can we establish with reasonable probability that anyone from the past actually existed, whether our aforementioned Abraham Lincoln and Julius Caesar, or anyone else: Harry Truman, Charlemagne, Hypatia*, Jerome, Socrates, Anne Frank, or Bilbo Baggins?"

I read the passage again in disbelief and puzzlement. I'm humbled that he would include me among such notable historical figures, though I have no idea who Hypatia* was. But why did he refer to me as "from the past"? Hey professor Ehrman! I'm right here! How can you know? Try asking me! You know, like, "Hey Bilbo, do you exist?" Nu? What's so difficult about that?

*Update: I now know who Hypatia was. Misogyny and religious intolerance at their finest.