Monday, March 30, 2009

Ernie Infield and the importance of language

"A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. ~Joseph Conrad.
Ernie Infield died Saturday at the age of 89. Some of us lately are worried that there are too few of his kind left to carry on the burden.

Will we eventually be left only with sound bites and blogging junkies to provide us with with entertainment and no one to dig up the truth needed to sustain civilization?

Ernie taught writing. He was not like some today who describe themselves as “wordsmiths.” He just taught the importance of language and of facts. Some of us have been lucky enough to know the few like Ernie. Hal Fry comes to mind. Our viewers will remember others.

Scribes from ancient times have provided us trustworthy reports of those ideas and events necessary for the upkeep of civilization.

Hopefully in this digital age there will still be those like Ernie who aspire to good writing.

Click on the headline to read Bob Dyer’s column about Ernie in today’s Beacon Journal.

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