24.4.11
Alfred Kahn's memo
Alfred Kahn wrote a celebrated memo on writing with clarity. As described in The New York Times:
Here is the memo in full, spotted at here and here. Spotted via Boing Boing.
Though written long before the Internet age, the memo immediately went viral. It was published verbatim in The Washington Post, which also praised it in an accompanying editorial. It generated a marriage proposal from a Boston Globe columnist, who gushed: “Alfred Kahn, I love you. I know you’re in your late 50s and are married, but let’s run away together.” A Singapore newspaper suggested that Mr. Kahn be awarded a Nobel Prize. A Kansas City newspaper urged him to run for president. And, shortly after the memo’s appearance, he was appointed to the usage panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, a position he held until his death.
Here is the memo in full, spotted at here and here. Spotted via Boing Boing.