Written By John Caverhill
It is I, not you, that is writing these columns. So, it is ultimately my responsibility to be sure each article is free of errors. I also want these articles to be entertaining as well as informative and am always on the lookout for new ideas. The inspiration for the article you are now reading leapt from the Banner page and slapped me in the face on the morning of May 16th. My copy of the Middlesex Banner had arrived a few days previously and on this particular morning, breakfast over, I settled down for a leisurely perusal of the paper. This paper is a ‘go-to’ for the latest information about local affairs and activities in the county. Coffee at hand, I had spread the paper on the kitchen table and was peacefully absorbing its content. ‘The Coffee Break’ and ‘Diversions’ are especially enjoyable but someone please explain to me ‘The Adventures of Jim: the Levitating Turtle!’ It always leaves me feeling oddly disconnected and that I have missed something in the presentation. I also check the obituaries for two reasons; the most obvious reason, of course, is to see if anyone I know is on the list, but I also check to see how many of those listed are over ninety. The more there are the better I feel; it gives me more confidence in the outlook for my personal longevity.
Do you ever get the feeling that something—call it fate or whatever—is watching you with a sort of amused indifference and every once in a while, becomes just interested enough to toss something into the mixture called ‘life’ just to see how you react?
I came to my own article and was reading it with a proprietorial air and rather smug complacency. In my subconscious mind I was starting to see myself as a real author… “Maybe I should have myself photographed, pipe in hand, gazing thoughtfully at something just off camera.” I was reading the names of the players on the Ilderton baseball team: Don Urbshott, Stu and Max O’Neil, Bill Thurwall, Keith… -Thurwall!!? It was a good thing I wasn’t holding my coffee mug. I did a doubletake that would have showered coffee all over the kitchen.
Now, Bill and I go back a good many years. We share 1936 as our birth year; Bill preceded me, being born in February. We both grew up on Lobo Township farms and we started Grade 9 at Medway High School in 1949, its opening year. We played sports together and enjoyed being active in Ilderton Junior Farmers for many years. Unfortunately, I missed his 90th birthday reception because I was down with one of the many viral infections the public has been enjoying the past while.
The above paragraph was written to emphasize that Bill and I have known each other for years, our families were friends before Bill and I were born, so this should help show that I do know the correct spelling of Bill’s last name is Thirlwall, not Thurwall. So, Bill, please accept my apologies. After all, as the older of we two, you have to make allowances for the bumbling ways of the junior partner.
How do these writing mistakes occur? They just seem to happen. The most plausible theory to account for these errors that I have heard is ‘gremlins’. These little critters lurk in the fingers of writers and editors, they delight in slipping in wrong letters, and even whole words, just to stir things up and keep everybody on their toes. The following story illustrates what they really can do once they get going.
A newspaper reporter describing a society wedding wrote, “The bride’s dainty feet were enclosed in shoes that might have been taken for fairy boots.” The gremlins got busy and the following report appeared in the newspaper ‘The bride’s dirty feet were enclosed in shoes that might have been taken for fairy boats.’
To conclude, it is I, not you, that is responsible for what I write. Also, it is I, not U, that is used in spelling Thirlwall correctly.
