Young Writers

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of ‘The Elements of Style.’ The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” 

—Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), writer and satirist, in a book review of Strunk & White’s writing handbook, Esquire, 1959. (Thanks to gimlet-eyed WORDster Andy Merton)

• Editorial Comment: In blissful innocence before the first rejection letter.

Peezpix by Ted Pease

Clam Beach Run, 2016

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
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

It’s a Whopper

“Both fishing and writing are largely acts of faith: you believe that there is indeed a rich run of ideas lurking below. The convoluted first drafts, the false casts and hooked branches are all a part of some cosmic ritual designed to seduce a shiny gem to the surface. You get a nibble and your mind sings as you play the idea and reel it in. Only sometimes is it a keeper.”

—Holly Morris, writer, editor, producer and fisherwoman, “Fumbling After Grace: Fishing & Writing,” The New York Times, 1997.

• Editorial Comment: “Fish on!” the writer yelled. 

Peezpix by Ted Pease

St. George Reef Light

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
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

Violence by Facebook

WORDmeister note: Here in the U.S., Facebook just wastes our time and disrupts the political process. In Sri Lanka, it’s used to foment violence.

“Time and again, communal hatreds overrun the newsfeed — the primary portal for news and information for many users — unchecked as local media are displaced by Facebook and governments find themselves with little leverage over the company. Some users, energized by hate speech and misinformation, plot real-world attacks.”

—Amanda Taub and Max Fisher, reporters, “Where Countries Are Matchbooks and Facebook Is a Match,” The New York Times, April 21, 2018.

• Editorial Comment: Anything to add, Mr. Zuckerberg?

Peezpix by Ted Pease

Fido Sneer

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
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

Macho Wannabes

“I think if there were no such thing as men, there would be no word processors. Male writers like them because they have this sneaking suspicion that writing is not the most masculine profession. 

“This is why you have so much idiotic behavior among male writers. There are more male writers who own guns than any other profession except police officers. They like machines because it makes them seem more masculine — Well, I work on a machine. It’s almost as good as being a mechanic.” 

—Fran Lebowitz, humorist and writer, “A Humorist at Work,” The Paris Review, 1993.

• Editorial Comment: I use a wrench on my laptop all the time.

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Elvis Sighting

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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

Insidious Beast

“The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little.” 

—Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), author, The Golden Apples of the Sun, 1953. (Thanks to alert WORDster Tony Seton)

• Editorial Comment: Medusa and the Insidious Beast would be a good name for a band.

peezpix by Ted Pease

Echium on the March

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
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

It’s About Time

“I am not a unicorn and I should not be a sorority of one. There are lots of women and people of color who can perform at high levels, not just in this industry, but in industries across the country.”

—Dana Canedy, New York Times journalist, on being the first woman and first person of color selected as administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, “Q&A: Dana Canedy on the future of the Pulitzer Prizes,” Columbia Journalism Review, July 2017.

• Editorial Comment: More unicorns needed.

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Dewy

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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

Smart Talk

“Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.” 

—Muhammed Ali (1942-2016), boxer, who almost always had an answer.

• Editorial Comment: Good advice, rarely taken.

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Arcata Marsh

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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

Pity the Nation

“Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
 and whose shepherds mislead them.


“Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,
 and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.


“Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
 except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero
 and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.


“Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own
 and no other culture but its own.


“Pity the nation whose breath is money
 and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.


“Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode
 and their freedoms to be washed away.


“My country, tears of thee, Sweet land of liberty.”


―Lawrence Ferlinghetti, activist poet and playwright, “Pity the Nation” (After Khalil Gibran), 2007. View reading by the poet. (Thanks to alert WORDster Kathleen Franklin)

• Editorial Comment: As another current thinker might put it: Sad.

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Peony Weeps

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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

The Pulitzers

Note: The 2018 Pulitzer Prizes for Excellence in Journalism, founded 1917, were announced Monday. Click for full list of winners.

“For an entire century the Pulitzer Prizes . . . have had a wonderful impact not just on journalism and arts and letters, but, I would argue, on our democracy. [T]his is a moment where journalism is under attack. The very concepts of fact and truth are under assault . . . by a concerted and constant and very serious attempt to discredit and disqualify the voices of the news media.”

—Eugene Robinson, Washington Post columnist and Pulitzer Board chairman, “The Pulitzers celebrate next 100 years with cocktails and a case for the free press,” Columbia Journalism Review, March 28, 2018.

• Editorial Comment: Here’s to another century of free and independent journalism. It makes a difference.

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peezpix by Ted Pease

Snag Sky

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
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

What’s To Be Done?

“What is to be done? First, defend the truth. A free press, for example, is not the enemy of the American people; it is the protector of the American people. Second, we must reinforce the principle that no one, not even the president, is above the law. Third, we should each do our part to energize the democratic process by registering new voters, listening respectfully to those with whom we disagree, knocking on doors for favored candidates, and ignoring the cynical counsel: ‘There’s nothing to be done.’ 

“I’m 80 years old, but I can still be inspired when I see young people coming together to demand the right to study without having to wear a flak jacket.” 

—Madeleine Albright, politician, professor, author of “Fascism: A Warning,” and former U.S. secretary of State, “Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late?” The New York Times, April 6, 2018.

• Editorial Comment: Thank you, Madam Secretary. That seems pretty straightforward.

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Otter Feet

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
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

Doomed Writers

“A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent, the dream of literature will provide him with a roof over his head, a hot meal at the end of the day, and what he covets the most: his name printed on a miserable piece of paper that surely will outlive him. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is doomed and his soul has a price.” 

—Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Spanish author, “The Angel’s Game,” 2010.

• Editorial Comment: My first paid gig: 8¢/word. But the paper accepted 1,000-word feature stories.

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Jr. Activists Rock!

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
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