Interview with a copy editor: He’d rather be loafing

Let’s continue with yesterday’s copy editing theme and pay a visit to John E. McIntyre of the Baltimore Sun.

Readers of this blog with crazy-good memories will remember McIntyre as the Baltimore Sun copy editor who warns students on the first day of his copy editing class at Loyola University Maryland that they’re about to embark on something “appallingly dull” and difficult, and then turns his back for a minute so any of them who wants to escape can do so.

McIntyre was interviewed briefly last week by Copyediting, and while the interview itself is a bit light—he says he’d like to try “loafing” as an alternate career if he couldn’t be a copy editor—it does offer a good opportunity for this blog to point out that there’s a website called Copyediting that’s worth checking out. Slogan: “Because language matters.”

McIntyre also has a language and copy editing blog, You Don’t Say, at the Sun’s website. And after yesterday’s post you already know about Copydesk.org, the website of the American Copy Editors Society, which features the blog The Grammar Guide as well as a forum, job board and other resources.

Any mistakes in this post?