Category Archives: Ideas and Opinions

Summer Reading 2022

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Ed Battistella

It’s back to school time! But there’s still time to report on my summer reading. In no particular order, with my mini-comments: The Critic– by Peter May Who would kill a wine critic? Who wouldn’t? The Call by P D … Continue reading →

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An Interview with P D Viner, author of THE CALL

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Ed Battistella

P. D. Viner was born in South London and developed an early interest in the theatre and film. He earned an MA from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow, the world’s oldest film school, and later lived in New … Continue reading →

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An Exit Interview with Kemble Yates

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Kemble Yates is from Pullman, Washington. He graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 1982 with degrees in economics and mathematics and went on to earn a master’s degree in mathematics in 1984 and a PhD in 1987, both … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Louise Wagenknecht

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Louise Wagenknecht is the author of a trilogy of books about life in northwest California: White Poplar, Black Locust (2003, republished in 2021), Light on the Devils: Coming of Age on the Klamath (2011), and Shadows on the Klamath: A Woman … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Ellen Jovin, author of Rebel with a Clause

Posted on July 5, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Ellen Jovin has a B.A. from Harvard College and an M.A. from UCLA and has studied twenty-five languages for fun. Jovin is a cofounder of Syntaxis, a communication consultancy, and the author of four books on English and writing, She … Continue reading →

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Coffee Houses and History, a guest post by Gray Blair

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Coffee Houses and History: How Their Reputation has Evolved Coffee houses are known today as places for first dates and novel writing, but their history is much more politically radical. Originally popularized in the Middle East during the ottoman empire, coffeehouses … Continue reading →

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An Interview with John R. Rickford

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Ed Battistella

John R. Rickford is the J.E. Wallace Sterling Professor of Linguistics and the Humanities (emeritus) at Stanford University, where he has been since 1980. He won a Dean’s Award for distinguished teaching in 1984 and a Bing Fellowship for excellence … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Diana Coogle

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Diana Coogle grew up in Georgia and attended Vanderbilt University (graduating Phi Beta Kappa and fifth in her class) later earning an MA in English at Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Oregon. A former … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Rick Bleiweiss, Author of Pignon Scorbion & the Barbershop Detectives

Posted on January 9, 2022 by Ed Battistella

Rick Bleiweiss began his career in the music industry as a recording artist, Grammy-nominated producer, recorded songwriter and record label senior executive. He worked with such music industry legends as Clive Davis, Robert Stigwood, Pink, Alicia Keys, Kiss, Donna Summer, … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Arika Okrent, author of Highly Irregular

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Ed Battistella

Arika Okrent has an undergraduate degree from Carleton College, an M.A. in Linguistics from Gallaudet University, and a Ph.D. in Psycholinguistics from University of Chicago. A winner of the Linguistic Society of America’s Linguistic Journalism Award in 2016 and a … Continue reading →

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