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Re: [OM] It'sPi Day!--now Day after Pi Day!-- Mandatory list assignments

Subject: Re: [OM] It'sPi Day!--now Day after Pi Day!-- Mandatory list assignments.
From: Bob Whitmire <fujixbob@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2016 21:43:02 -0400
Weaving a wee straw man, me thinks . . . inferring what I did not imply, or
something like that. <g>

No where did I say, or _would_ I say, that a direct quote should be
changed. That is dishonesty at the highest level. And, as an editor of tens
of thousands of words of paraphrase, I am excruciatingly cognizant of
slippery slopes. Distill a three-hour city council meeting into 800 words,
for example, without paraphrasing.

My point with Mike's line was simply how the editor in me sees a
re-crafting of the phrase. If he submitted it to me as part of a piece of
prose that was not a direct quote or a paraphrase, but rather an invention
of his very own ink-stained fingers, I _might_ first flash the cliche
warning, because if nothing else it re-words a very old saw, "Never let the
facts get in the way of a good story, ma'am." If Mike wished to proceed,
and many factors might cause him to wish to do so, most of them legitimate,
then I would suggest the re-phrasing, at which time he could take it or
leave it, depending on my authority over and responsibility for his writing.

How did Chris Barker get into your editor joke? Has anyone checked his
fingers for grime?

--Bob Whitmire
Certified Neanderthal


On Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 4:43 PM, Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On 3/17/2016 3:38 AM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
>
>> The editor in me calls out to modify the quote thusly: "Don't let slavish
>> addiction to truth ruin a good story." But that's just me. I can't help
>> myself.
>>
>
> But then it would not be a quote, but a paraphrase, unless you got to the
> copy before it was published. ;-)   And therein lurks a slippery slope:
>
> May today be peace within. May you trust your highest power that you are
> exactly where you are meant to be... May you not forget the infinite
> possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have
> received, and pass on the love that has been given to you... May you be
> content knowing you are a child of God... Let this presence settle into
> your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and
> love. It is there for each and every one of you.
>     ― Mother Teresa
>
> "Today may there be  peace within. May you trust that you are exactly
> where you are  meant to be.  May you not forget the infinite possibilities
> that are born of faith in yourself and others.    May you use the gifts
> that you have received and pass on the love that has been  given to  you.
>  May you be content with yourself just the way you  are.        Let this
> knowledge  settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to
> sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every  one of us."
>     -  Paraphrase or restatement of the above, widely "quoted" as being
> directly from Mother Teresa.
>
> I would argue that the paraphrase is not an accurate representation of the
> original, in several respects.
>
> Bob of the Green Eyeshade.
>>
>
> Editor joke from the file:
>
> On the back, in the grime, with index fingers, someone has written ‘i wish
> my wife was as dirty as this’ and someone else ‘she is with me’ and someone
> else ‘were as dirty’.
>         Ned Bauman, Glow, pg 32 of 222
>
>
-- 
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