The Right Words Editing

the right words, in the right place, at the right time

Who am I?

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    I spent most of my professional life in a high school classroom teaching English. There, I developed the knowledge and polished the skills I now employ as an editor:

  • A strong awareness of the conventions of the English language.
  • An ability to explain and apply those conventions.
  • Speed in identifying and correcting common errors in written and spoken language.
  • Patience and sensitivity in working with writers.

    I am a reader. Being near books creates a warm, tranquil sensation in my body and mind. In particular, I am warmed by the work of the late Polish journalist, Ryszard Kapuscinski. I describe his work as journalistic travel memoir, flavoured with the historical and political.
    Here is a sample from The Shadow of the Sun, his 2001 book about living in Africa in the early 1960s.

    A wild elephant intrudes on an outdoor dinner party, then Kapuscinski writes this:

... So the elephant sauntered about, looked at the set tables, at the flickering lights, at the motionless people. One could see by his movements, by the way he swayed his head, that he was hesitating, that he hadn't yet reached a decision. This went on and on, seemingly forever, an icy eternity. At a certain moment I intercepted his gaze. He was watching us attentively, heavily, and in his eyes was a profound, unwavering sadness.
    Finally, having made his rounds of the tables and the clearing several times, the elephant left us, simply walked away and was swallowed up by the darkness. When the ground ceased rumbling, and the dark grew still again, one of the Tanzanians sitting next to me asked: "Did you see?"
    "Yes," I answered, not quite daring to move yet. "It was an elephant."
    "No," he replied. "The spirit of Africa always appears in the guise of an elephant. Because no other animal can vanquish an elephant. Not a lion, not a buffalo, not a snake."
    Everyone walked in silence to their huts, and the boys snuffed out the lights on the tables. It was still night, but Africa's most dazzling moment was approaching – the break of day.