From: Norma Jean <nsawicki>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 18:08:28 -0500

Based on my experience as a former editor, I wonder if the misspelling of Paul's name in the back matter of An American Plague is a typo or a misspelling. To the reader, they are one and the same but in reality they are different in the sense the reason for the mishap is different. In the case of a typo, everyone involved knew how to spell the name/ word but somewhere along the way, letters were transposed, etc. In the other, people did not know how to spell the name/word. Many years ago, a production manager handed me the first bound copy of Pat Lauber's Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens, and I eagerly flipped at random to a spread and the first "thing" that popped out was, "hte," instead of "the." I was horrified; so many of us had read the proof through every single stage and still...a typo. It was a Newbery Honor Book that year and I am forever grateful to the committee for appreciating Pat's skill as a writer and storytelling, and not penalizing us for the typo. Given who Jim Murphy is, as well as the skill of his editor, and her staff, I would bet hands down that the misspelling of Paul's last name is a typo. There are few writers of nonfiction who are also gifted storytellers, and while I appreciate the reasons for good back matter, I would hate to see it become more important than the heart of the book. Many writers provide good, and even excellent documentation but few writers can write An American Plague, a work of nonfiction that has a soul, and is as deeply felt as an excellent novel. Norma Jean
Received on Thu 18 Dec 2003 05:08:28 PM CST