-
Next: The Benghazi Select Committee
May 13, 2013 | 94 comments
-
Nobody Died in Watergate
May 9, 2013 | 148 comments
-
Benghazi Bullchips
May 6, 2013 | 184 comments
-
Obama’s Thin Red Line
April 29, 2013 | 207 comments
-
Why Has No One Taken Credit?
April 22, 2013 | 189 comments
In Memoriam
James Jackson Kilpatrick, RIP
America has lost its greatest wordsmith.
(Page 2 of 2)
I read Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style again and again, and nothing seemed to register. And then I read The Writer’s Art.
It was an epiphany. Why, I wondered, hadn’t anyone tried to teach me these things when I was younger? The truth was that someone probably had but, like too many other young men, I was too busy gazing at the girls in my class to have learned these things.
Writing was suddenly easier for me, and as I re-read Kilpatrick’s book and continued to write it only got easier, and better.
I learned how a writer has to trust not only his “mind’s eye” but his mind’s “ear”: if something sounds good in your head when you read it to yourself, it’s probably going to work just as well for the next guy who reads it.
In 1991, after a brief term in the Pentagon as political appointee, I re-entered the law practice with the Virginia office of a large Richmond law firm. Chatting idly with one of the receptionists one day while waiting for a client to show up, I mentioned my admiration of Kilpatrick and she quickly volunteered that she was his goddaughter. I then had the audacity to take issue with something he’d written in a column on the usage of the word “caliber” in describing a firearm.
A few days later my home phone rang, and the gent on the other end of the line said, “Jack Kilpatrick here.” I told him about my disagreement with his usage — as I recall — of the term “9mm caliber.”
A rather cold “humph” came through the line, followed by “why?”
I explained that “caliber” was a measure of the diameter of the projectile (or inner diameter of the barrel of the weapon) in hundreds of an inch. Hence “.45 caliber” meant 45/100ths of an inch. “9mm” is a parallel expressed in metric terms, so to say “9mm caliber” was to combine incompatible measurements. Better, I said, to convert “9mm” into the mathematically equivalent “.38 caliber.”
I was answered with a warmer “hmm.” And then came an invitation to join him the next time I visited Charleston, South Carolina.
When my wife and I visited Jack and his first wife, Marie, in Charleston, she was quite ill. And Jack, already in his seventies, gave her loving attention every minute of the day. They were deeply in love and he — a Southern gentleman in the best sense — worked hard to make her burdens lighter and courted her every day.
A short while after Marie passed away in 1997, Jack moved to Washington and married newspaper columnist Marianne Means in 1998.
We spoke from time to time, by telephone and e-mail, and on the rare occasion a dinner including our wives.
Jack continued to write his weekly column and was always ready to referee language disputes. I remember one I had with my pal Greg Garrison, Indianapolis radio host, lawyer, and all-around good guy. He used “anxious” where I said he should use “eager” and Greg wouldn’t budge. My point was that “anxious” included an element of fear or anxiety and that “eager” shouldn’t be limited to descriptions of puppies and little boys even though it connoted a degree of happiness.
I submitted the argument to His Honor, the Chief Judge of the Court of Peeves, Irks and Crotchets, and — within the hour — the decision was rendered. I was right, Kilpo pronounced, saying he’d resorted to three dictionaries to be entirely sure.
Kilpo said all writers should strive to write at least one perfect sentence each month. If we don’t, it’s not because his good-natured instruction failed us. It’s because we were too lazy to follow it or too inattentive to absorb it.
Here’s my best shot for this month: Every American writer should be thankful for all of Kilpo’s peeves, irks and crotchets, because each one more finely tuned our minds’ ears to our readers’ needs, and made us better at our lives’ work. God rest ye, Jack. I shall miss you greatly.
About the Author
Jed Babbin served as a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He is the author of several bestselling books including Inside the Asylum and In the Words of Our Enemies. You can follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (31) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Jed Babbin
More Articles From In Memoriam
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/08/17/james-jackson-kilpatrick-rip
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Jeff| 8.17.10 @ 6:49AM
I am very sorry to hear that we have lost James J. Kilpatrick. I well remember his point-counterpoint on Sixty Minutes. He spoke at my college and after the talk, I was one of the lucky students to have lunch with him. He was a real gentleman and a great role model for the profession. We need more people like him.
Alan Brooks| 8.17.10 @ 9:15AM
"America has lost its greatest wordsmith."
To you he was our greatest wordsmith; but I think your statement just might be a hyperbolic one. It's always the "greatest" this", the "greatest" that.
In high school someone used to say "Clapton is the greatest guitarist"; someone replied, "nah, Jimmy Page is the greatest--Clapton can't hold Jimmy Page's jockstrap."
"Emmet Tyrrell is the greatest publisher.'
John II| 8.17.10 @ 6:28PM
I suppose the more accurate expression would be something like "among America's best-known wordsmiths and perhaps the best before his death."
But Mr. Kilpatrick would probably reject the expression as wordy and overqualified. He might also reject the term "overqualified" as ambiguous.
My guess is, "America's greatest wordsmith" today is probably some retired prep school teacher known only to the 6,584 students he (probably not she) terrified over a period of 44 years in a second-year English class.
Ditto, mutatis mutandis, for America's greatest auto mechanic, America's greatest character actor, America's greatest drill sergeant, America's greatest short-order cook, America's greatest traffic cop, America's greatest . . .
NEGRO X| 8.17.10 @ 9:22PM
I think we can all agree on that alan brooks is the greatest liberal moron to post on AS.
Alan Brooks| 8.17.10 @ 11:40PM
Does that mean the best of the liberal morons, or the worst? But the question arises: what are you, Negro X? the greatest Uncle Tom?
bluecollarbytes| 8.18.10 @ 12:00AM
there is a 'greatness' ...er...or at least an obsessive consistency to it...
Howard| 8.17.10 @ 7:18AM
I remember Mr. Kilpatrick as part of the Agronsky & Co. team from the 1970's. He was a true Southern gentlemen and a fine advocate of conservative principles.
Stourley Kracklite| 8.17.10 @ 7:46AM
When criticized by an annoyed segregationist for apologizing for “your former views regarding racial integration,” Kilpatrick hastened to set the “record straight”: “I did not say I was sorry for my former views on racial integration. I said, very carefully, that I was sorry I ever defended the practice of State-sanctioned segregation. There is a world of difference. Neither did I ‘belatedly come to the conclusion that I was wrong about my former stand on equality of the races.’ As I tried to make clear, I belatedly came to the conclusion that I was wrong about my former stand on the rightness of State-sanctioned discrimination.”
Alan Brooks| 8.17.10 @ 9:20AM
Sounds devious. If an Ex-Commie said "I did not say I was sorry for my former views on Communism. I said, very carefully, that I was sorry I ever defended the practice of State-sanctioned communism. There is a world of difference."
Weasel words.
Sheila| 8.17.10 @ 11:20AM
Kilpatrick took care to parse his words and unambiguously elucidate his meaning. This is the definition of true clarity, not "weasel words." Kilpatrick obviously came to oppose "State-sanctioned discrimination" - this would include both Jim Crow laws and affirmative action. While his opinion regarding the "equality of the races" may not be today's liberal holy writ, it is increasingly supported by well-documented studies that are quickly suppressed by their authors or denounced by the true weasels. The natural corollary to his comment is that non-State sanctioned discrimination" - i.e. that practiced in the form of free speech and free association by free people, is supported by those of us who believe the Civil Rights Act violates those tenets and thus the Constitution. Of course, these are merely "weasel" words on my part, Mr. Brooks, not genuinely held and well-thought out convictions, because I'm a RACIST, having long outgrown my knee-jerk liberal upbringing. Tribalism + democracy + stupidity = racist idiocracy. Decline and fall.
Jon| 8.17.10 @ 12:31PM
Well said!
Alan Brooks| 8.17.10 @ 4:42PM
"his would include both Jim Crow laws and affirmative action."
Most groups don't deserve affirmative action, but blacks do-- as they have suffered the most. I don't merely mean slavery or Jim Crow, but also their being drafted into the Vietnam War. Why should blacks be conscripted?; btw, since you're a woman, Sheila, you can't talk about the Draft..
Sheila| 8.17.10 @ 8:49PM
Approximately 275,000 blacks served in Vietnam. Black combat deaths totaled 5,681. Total U.S. "battle deaths" were 47,356 (there were an additional 10,795 noncombat fatalities). This means approximately 2 percent of all blacks who served in Vietnam died in battle, and about 12 percent of all battle deaths were black - this roughly corresponds to the black percentage of the U.S. population. As an "ex-liberal" Mr. Brooks, you certainly have maintained your belief in standard liberal myths. Their casualty percentage was in line with their percentage of combat troops and no way did they "suffer the most." Since military service is now voluntary (and since most blacks choose to/only qualify for a noncombat MOS), approximately 85 percent of our combat casualties today are white. As far as my gender rendering me "unfit" to comment on the draft, I had/have family members serving this country since WWI. Just another liberal myth/slander (chickenhawk) from a typical, slogan-spouting progressive who flies a false flag and claims conservative values.
Alan Brooks| 8.17.10 @ 4:52PM
"Kilpatrick took care to parse his words and unambiguously elucidate his meaning."
As an ex-liberal, if I wrote "I did not say I was sorry for my former views on liberalism. I said, very carefully, that I was sorry I ever defended the practice of State-sanctioned liberalism. There is a world of difference.", it would mean the opposite. Kirkpatrick WAS sorry, or why would he have to be defensive about it?
Sheila| 8.17.10 @ 8:55PM
Since my carefully-worded comment has proven beyond your reading and reasoning abilities, Mr. Brooks, I'll repeat it. Kirkpatrick was in no way defensive about his position; he was careful to specify that he regretted defending "state-sponsored" discrimination. He said nothing about private discrimination (as I indicated, this is the exercise of free speech and free association by free people which is theoretically protected by the Constitution) and this omission was obviously deliberate. As far as saying one thing and meaning the opposite, I believe your claim to be an ex-liberal is exactly that. I'm done playing pattycake; I usually avoid responding to ignorant individuals but your blatant fallacies and fatuousness irked me. Tribalism + democracy + stupidity = Brooks and racist idiocracy. Decline and fall.
Alan Brooks| 8.17.10 @ 11:53PM
"I usually avoid responding to ignorant individuals but your blatant fallacies and fatuousness irked me."
Guilt. You know we had no genuine right to draft any black boys to send them to 'Nam. None-- no matter how "low"(5,681 is enough to fill a town).
Kirkpatrick was defensive in having to answer the "charges" (he was in no danger) at all-- a truly great person knows: never argue, never explain. He was a good person: leave it at that, he wasn't a great writer and thinker such as Madison.
P.Smith| 8.17.10 @ 9:22AM
I bought an abridged version the book R.E. Lee written by Douglass Southall Freeman about twenty years ago, and inserted in the book was a short pamphlet written by James J. Kilpatrick about his tutelage under Freeman at the Richmond News Leader. It was an excellent short read and gave me insights into Freeman’s character as a true southern gentleman that led to me to appreciate the book he had written even more. I have since purchased the full four volume set, and have not read it yet, but it looks nice on my bookshelf.
ncatty| 8.17.10 @ 9:30AM
The four volume set is a good read. Freeman was capable of amazing production. His multi-volume works were written while holding down a full time job as editor.
Steve| 8.17.10 @ 9:53AM
Mr Babbin: Thank you for your wonderful article about Mr Kilpatrick. I was so sorry when he stopped writing his column and am even sadder to learn of his death. Please permit this small peeve. irk, or crotchet. "Writing was suddenly easier for me, and as I re-read Kilpatrick's book and continued to write it only got easier, and better. " I don't believe that Mr Kilpatrick would approve of the placement of "only" in your sentence. ;)
Paul from Sa| 8.17.10 @ 10:46AM
Thanks Jed for a great article.
Mark Shepler- Jupiter FL| 8.17.10 @ 1:15PM
I read Kilpatrick for some 20 years. He was not only one of the two Master Wordsmiths of American print, a sort of Obi-Wan Kinobe to Buckley's Yoda (or vice-versa, take your pick) for wanna-be writers but an authoritative, elder statesman of conservatism. I'm not sure how either would appreciate the analogy but it's what comes to mind to a contemporary mind polluted with contemporary culture and makes the loss of them rise all the more in esteem. One read Kilpatrick as much for his views as how he wrote them. It's reassuring and entirely befitting and consistent that the two recognized authorities on English usage and writing over the last 30 years were Conservatives, no? The only man of the left who comes to my mind who is even close is Christopher Hitchens although he makes no practice of instructing in it. He just gets on with the writing of it beautifully. It's a shame he's devoted his talent so much to the undermining of what is good, just and beautiful. Still he sees clearly and writes courageously about the encroaching dark ages of islamism. Let us hope he comes around regarding God in his time of supreme trial. I suppose this must be because the Left deliberately misuses language to obfuscate, confuse and deceive others as to their meaning and intentions. They misappropriate, misapply and misconstrue words to convince others they mean something different or the opposite of the word's true meaning to further along their agenda. Thus, Orwell's warning of perverted language "war is peace, slavery is freedom" and Obama's sincerely delivered "stimulus, job creation and investments, etc.". God Speed and God Bless, Mr. Kilpatrick. May you join that hallowed club of uniquely American writers and men of letters, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, H.L. Mencken, William Buckley and many others who so graced our written word.
Carolyn Larson| 8.23.10 @ 5:53PM
Mr. Shepler, your last sentence was as gracious as Mr. Kilpatrick. He would have been quite pleased. Thank you.
Petronius| 8.17.10 @ 3:19PM
I always admired Jack for his virtuoso dissections and dismissals of the fatuous rants of Nicholas von Hoffman as well as Shana and her silliness. And we need his invective all the more now that mass ignorance and emotion trump truth. Our adversaries will delight in his passing because Jack was one of the few who would tell them to both their faces that reality cannot be defeated by denying it. The nihilists go merrily on doing so. But unlike them, James J Kilpatrick has only one face.
I look at the other names mentioned in this thread and would that I could spend 1 hour kibitzing at their table. May the Almighty commission a new Host of Angels; The Philologiam. And may they Command that a plague of confusion be inflicted upon all who substitute the semi-vulgar term "thunk" for Thought.
Hillman Phillips| 8.17.10 @ 6:55PM
Great piece, but are you sure that Mr. Kilpatrick was married to Marianne Means. I'm not sure, but I thought he was married to Georgianne Geyer.
Mark| 8.18.10 @ 7:42AM
I confess I have never read "The Writer's Art." Now I most certainly will. Surprised to see no mention here of the late William Safire, whose observations about language and usage I also used to enjoy.
S. Ruger| 8.18.10 @ 8:45AM
Though I appreciate his contributions to the discourse on language, I always thought Kilpatrick's writing was jerky and disfluent. His prose didn't flow the way good conversation or an interesting speech does. He seemed to write with a limp.
Christopher Pierson | 8.18.10 @ 11:00AM
In the early 70's I was with the Washington Star Syndicate and we syndicated both Kilpatrick and Buckley. Kilpatrick used the word opsimath in a column and Buckley was tickled and called him and asked where he got the word. Kilpo would not tell him and they joked about that for a long time.