The social media have been a great blessing — grandparents seeing pictures of their grandchildren on Facebook; ordinary folk conversing with celebrities on Twitter. (I once had an exchange with Lea Thompson. Men of my generation will understand.) But the social media have been a great curse, too — because, particularly in their anonymity, they have unleashed a wave of nastiness.
Anyway, that is the opening subject of my Impromptus today, which has many other subjects as well. See whether there’s something you like — here.
Let’s dip into the mail. I thought this was darn interesting, and even moving:
Dear Mr. Nordlinger,
. . . I wanted to share something that I heard the other day listening to Mike Wallace interviews from the late 1950s, which are currently airing on Sirius Channel 109. Fascinating stuff and a great window into the period. . . .
Mike was interviewing Ben Hecht, the writer. The interview was high-minded banter and then Hecht said this: “Truth doesn’t triumph; it persists.” I almost drove off the road when I heard that. Isn’t that a marvelous statement?
Truth is stubborn, obstinate, tenacious. It is often inconvenient, and it “persists” despite the best efforts of people to wish it away. . . .
And that gives me hope, because, as the saying goes, truth will out.
Thank you cordially for taking the time to read this.
For sure. (By the way, you remember the typical Bill Buckley sign-off: “Cordially.”)
In a column the other day, I had a photo of a historic building in New York. The building is stately and even beautiful. Chiseled at the top are the words “Public Bath,” with the “u” appearing as a “v,” in the ancient fashion.
A reader writes, “Jay, I see your ‘v’ and raise you another one.” Under his note is a photo from Chicago:
Finally, some language — a public service, really, from Michael Mates:
Dear Mr. Nordlinger,
If Ron DeSantis is elected president, or even does well in the primaries, I hope that we will have a vigorous debate over how to write the plural and possessive forms of his surname, and all other such names.
This is Michael Mates’s opinion, and there are other Mateses who agree. Those Mateses’ opinions should also be taken into account.
Oh, there is no debate. That is simple fact.
Thanks to one and all.