Re: Kate Swift died (7-5-2011)

On 2024-05-08, Ross Clark wrote:

American writer, co-author (with Casey Miller) of _Words and Women_
(1976) and _The Handbook of Non-Sexist Writing_ (1980). I still have a
copy of the latter somewhere. These books stood out from a lot of
ill-informed rubbish that was being written and talked in the feminist
critique of language at that time. They wrote realistic, practical
advice from writers to other writers, non-accusatory in tone. Looking
them up now, I am surprised to learn that both authors were more or less
of my parents' generation (born 1923 and 1919). (Wikipedia carefully
describes them as "publishing partners" and "platonic domestic partners".)
>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Swift
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Miller

This quote from the second book is funny:

   "Knowing that he and his can be gender neutral, I shall no longer
   feel there is an odd image filtering through something like: 'The
   average American needs the small routines of getting ready for
   work. As he shaves or blow-dries his hair or pulls on his panty
   hose, he is easing himself by small stages into the demands of the
   day.'...How liberating common sense can be."[5]
  
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handbook_of_Nonsexist_Writing#%22The_Pronoun_Problem%22>



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