“Especially in the magazine offices the betraying sign of an editor who isn’t sure of himself and so can’t be sure of anyone else, is that he worries to a lather and drives competent contributors half crazy by futile, meaching* little suggestions. Doesn’t Mr. Soft Lead agree with him that it would strengthen the introduction were the second paragraph shifted to where the third paragraph now is?... Would Miss Fountain Pen consent to the substitution on Page 24 of “pale” for her choice “pallid”?” — Irvin S. Cobb in his 1941 memoir, Exit Laughing.
A famous magazine byline for decades, Cobb was author of numerous books, and reputedly the nation’s best-paid newspaper reporter. With a rare combinations of talents, he became well-known as both a war correspondent and a humorist.
* Meaching (also spelled meeching), means “sneaking, creeping softly, poor-spirited, cringing, melancholy, complaining,” according to this dictionary.
Comments