On writing, editing

Rules of grammar and style have rights, wrongs, exceptions, and occasions when wrong is better. I have great trust in the ear (which also listens to the Chicago Manual of Style).

Arjo Klamer (whose books I've been editing since 1982) and others have acknowledged my work in words I am quite proud of. (But it is wrong to end with a preposition! Or begin a sentence with "But"!)

My father was an excellent writer and a fair poet, if somewhat shy about it. I'm a facile writer and avid reader of, among other things, poetry. (Great credit goes to some spectacular English teachers.) I suppose that environmentally and genetically the odds of my respecting language were good.

Like most grammarians, I am attuned to it as an analytical, useful medium. We are a breed whose ears are offended by affectations like "between she and I," "at this point in time" and utterances of "factoid." (Really now, why not "factette"?) A Harvard professor once defended his over-corrections with, "But people understand what I mean." But that ain't the point.

Above all, I am in awe of writing's power: to persuade, console, anger, sadden, conjure madness and evoke heart-breaking beauty. All from simple little symbols, put together in a particular way.