“Much writing today strikes me as deprecating,
destructive, and angry. There are good reasons for anger, and I have nothing
against anger. But I think some writers have lost their sense of proportion,
their sense of humor, and their sense of appreciation.
“I am often mad, but I would hate to be nothing but mad:
and I think I would lose what little value I may have as a writer if I were to
refuse, as a matter of principle, to accept the warming rays of the sun, and to
report them, whenever, and if ever, they happen to strike me.”
—E.B. White
(1899-1985), writer, in a 1969 Paris Review Interview, reported in Maria Popova’s
“E.B. White on the Role and Responsibilities of the Writer,” Brain Pickings, 2012. Photo: Jill Krementz; Dog: Suzy.
• Editorial Comment: Thank dog for White’s record of the warming rays that struck his life, and thus ours.
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Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD
“I
don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If
you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a
little.” —Tom Stoppard
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