by Sue Horner | Sep 8, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Through the serendipity of the web, I somehow came across a blog called 37 Days. Asheville, North Carolina writer Patti Digh asked the question, “What would I be doing today if I only had 37 days to live?” after her stepfather was diagnosed with lung...
by Sue Horner | Aug 23, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Have you read Four Letter Word: Original Love Letters (edited by Joshua Knelman and Rosalind Porter)? Although one reviewer said it “unleashes the romantic in all of us,” I didn’t find it that way at all. Confession: I am a hopeless romantic....
by Sue Horner | Mar 31, 2009 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
This is such a great contest: The Diagram Prize’s Oddest Book Title of the Year. Its 2009 winner is The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-miligram Containers of Fromage Frais. I’m sure you are wondering, how could that possibly have beat out Baboon...
by Sue Horner | Dec 18, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The quest to rid employee communications of buzzwords and management-speak can never rest, so it’s always encouraging to find support. Of course, it’s unlikely those who speak in “methodologies” and “strategic imperatives” will read...
by Sue Horner | Nov 3, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I have author/historian/actor/broadcaster Studs Terkel to thank for a shining moment of gaming glory. Studs (real name Louis) died on Friday at the age of 96. During a game of Trivial Pursuit, my opponent practically rubbed his hands with glee at the question he was...
by Sue Horner | Oct 28, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
I’ve written before about the delightful column in The Atlantic where Barbara Wallraff posts reader requests (and ideas) for words that don’t exist but should. I didn’t realize that she also has a book called Word Fugitives until my husband, knowing...
by Sue Horner | Oct 20, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Astrologers who find new stars get their discoveries named after them; so do researchers identifying new diseases. Did you know that there is at least one writer who has been similarly recognized, although for a practice rather than a discovery? I had never heard the...
by Sue Horner | Oct 9, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
This spring, I posted about the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. I recently found out that The Bookseller has crowned the Diagram of Diagrams, bestowing the title of Oddest Book Title among all the winners of the past 30 years. You may be surprised to...
by Sue Horner | Jun 21, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Stephen King’s books used to be on my reading list. Early in my working career, I read The Shining on the half-hour train from the suburbs into the city. I would get on the train and start reading, and suddenly I would look up, eyes wide and heart pounding, and...
by Sue Horner | May 21, 2008 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Networking gets a bad rap. Really, if you go about it the right way, you don’t have to break into a cold sweat. Forget the (bad) advice to go in and give out as many business cards as possible and try to come away with work leads. Instead, look on each...
