WHAT IS IN A WORD

“I say there're no depressed words just depressed minds.” Bob Dylan

I don’t think a day passes when someone doesn’t send me a link to something. It’s a habit that a lot of people have developed and I find it rather annoying. That’s why I always use discretion in my choice of links to forward to my friends and colleagues. Family, well that’s a different story. I send them everything from chain emails that threaten the loss of the left toenail if they don’t forward it on to seven people within seven minutes to animated figures being exposed on investigative talk shows. Of course my goal is to annoy them and, if the family reunions are any indication, I’m succeeding.

This link is worth clicking. It’s a hoot especially if you’re a writer, teacher, or simply a lover of words. http://thewriteagenda.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/commentary-a-c-ann-crispins-mitzvah/

Put aside for the moment the underlying reason for this post. Taking a shot at the Internet “meanies” is neither here nor there. What makes this post so wonderfully brilliant is that it’s a well-written and carefully thought-out response to the use and misuse of words. It also offers a brief and valuable lesson in the Hebrew language, the Torah and “Shmirat Halashon.”

As I read this post I began to rethink something I always knew: Words are powerful tools. The words we choose to say and to write reflect who we are and who we are not.
For example: I worked with an English gentleman who could tell you to go to hell so eloquently and without ever using the word hell that you would walk away thinking it was a great place to visit. That took skill, polish, education, manners, control, humor, timing and panache. Another example is the old Woody Allen joke: “Some guy hit my fender, and I told him, 'Be fruitful and multiply,' but not in those words.” It says what needs to be said without quite saying it.

The above traits, for the most part, are acquired and it is the responsibility, no, the duty of writers to develop them, one by one, so that they can communicate carefully, clearly, effectively and skillfully to entertain and enlighten, not injure. Writers may do well to adopt Hemingway’s view: “All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time.” To see words anew is like slowly dipping a fresh ripe strawberry into rich creamy chocolate, then taking that first bite.

Churchill pointed out that “We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.” How true. All of us wordsmiths have been chained now and again. But if we are professionals we learn from our missteps, if we are human we evolve, if for no other reason than we come to understand what John Adams fluently stated: “Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society.” Only a fool would want to be a member of that club.

“Words without thoughts never to heaven go.” If you want to be on the side of heaven best heed Shakespeare’s words.

To the following people who think before they write, תודה, תודה לך!

Rabbi Yosef Serebryansk
Rabbi Sanford Shudnow
Rabbi Joel Tessler
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson
Rabbi Amy Eilberg
Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, PhD

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

It was a journey filled with memories sweet, bitter and bittersweet. A that journey began with the packing of the first box. Up until then I was okay with my decisions as to what got thrown in the dumpster to live out its remaining days in some landfill, what got stored away in the attic to be rediscovered by my heirs and what went with me to the new office to share a new beginning. With new beginnings come new endings. What I found in making this move to a brighter, newer, more efficient office is that endings are harder than beginnings.

It took three weeks to pack and during that time I never once thought about what was ahead of me and my company, SterlingHouse. Maybe that’s because I knew that we are doing one hell of a job adapting our 23 year-old traditional publishing house to meet the demands of today’s industry while still maintaining our unwavering dedication to the craft and to our authors. But knowing that didn’t stop the overwhelming sadness for a time gone by. A time when everyone thought they had a story to write but didn’t have what it took to write it. A time when editors reigned and turned poor writers into readable; average writers into good; good writers into great and great writers into Hemingways. A time when a novelist would have been appalled if someone said their book read like a movie script. A time when you slipped into a hot tub with your book in hand knowing it would survive a bit steam and few drops of water. A time when publishers, agents and authors earned their titles because they published, sold or wrote more than book. A time when a writer had to be published to earn the coveted title of author. And, this is the last time, when writing was hard, publishing difficult and agents had more than two large houses to market their wares.

That’s the world I knew. It’s all but gone. And, I’m sad about that. But even though I’ve turned the page and finished that chapter the book isn’t done yet. So, with that thought I look around at my new surroundings and somehow it all seems the same. There are piles of manuscripts yet to review, authors calling (mostly emailing) to demand the impossible, editors ready to slit their wrists if they have to explain point of view one more time, typesetters questions to answer, production matters to approve, deadlines to be missed.

I’m lucky. I love what I do. Always have. And, I’ll continue even if I have to publish a book on a piece of stone or somewhere in cyberspace.

One more thing: SterlingHouse has an open door policy. So if you are in the area, stop by. I’m sure we’ll still have few boxes that needing unpacking!

NEW ADDRESS and CONTACT INFO:

SterlingHouse Publisher, Inc.
2015 Babcock Blvd, Suite 2
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
Phone: 412-772-1179
Fax: 412-772-1452

MOCKING Bird

There’s some debate whether or not Victoria Beckham ever read a book. She says she reads books but due to her busy schedule she doesn’t get a chance to finish them. She goes on to say that Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, is her favorite author. That’s why she chose to name her daughter Harper. I think Harper’s middle name, Seven, is Victoria's favorite number. It is rumored that seven is as far as Victoria can count. Personally, I heard her being interviewed. I’m absolutely positive she can count further than seven. Maybe as high as ten but she most likely has to use her fingers as a visual aid.

I have a lot of favorite authors. I chose mine, more or less, according to category and genre. For example: Tolkien is my favorite in the fantasy category; Hemingway for the novel and Asimov in science fiction.

I also have favorite books: Moby Dick; A Christmas Story; The Little Prince; Perfume; The Stranger, to name a few.

Sometimes my favorite author wrote my favorite book: Tolkien/The Lord of the Rings and Hemingway/The Old Man and the Sea.

I normally read, for good or bad, the entire book. There are only two books that come to mind that I simply could not finish: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx.

Umberto Eco wanted the reader to do penance, so the beginning of The Name of the Rose is long and convoluted. I immediately caught on to what the author was doing and found him to be presumptuous and arrogant. Then again, I must admit, that at the time I had some unresolved issues involving the Catholic Church. However, I liked the movie. Sean Connery, Christian Slater and Ron Perlman did a good job bringing the characters alive. As far as The Shipping News, I simply don’t think Proulx is very good at her craft. I know the book won the Pulitzer and the National Book Award but I still think the book sucks. I didn’t like the movie despite the improvements made to the storyline and characters.

Back to Victoria: I have two questions. What are the titles of Harper Lee’s other novels?
And will Harper Seven and Suri Cruise host a “book club” in the $100,000 tree-house?