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Parlez-vous Slurvian—or Silurian?
Don’t confuse Slurvian with Silurian. Slurvian is slurred English. Jeetjet, for example, is Slurvian quickspeak for “Did you eat yet?” As the columnist William Safire asked, Yagoddaprollemwiddat? If not, fuhgeddaboudit.
Silurians are a fictional race of reptile-like humanoids. They star in a sci-fi TV series on BBC. The Silurian geologic period occurred 440 million years ago, give or take.
The oldest living Silurian in this country, George Bookman, is only 98 years old. The Society of Silurians in New York City is an organization of newspaper, magazine and broadcast reporters and editors, most of them retired. As the Society seems to define the word, a Silurian is someone who dates from that geologic period. Once upon a time, Bookman worked for Time, Fortune, U.S. News and the Washington Post—one at a time.
All this is by way of introducing an unusual interview—by me, of me and for me. The interview ran recently in the Silurians’ newspaper. And you can read it on page 3 of this link (in PDF format).
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More articles are available via the Articles link, at the left, by publication year.
"Mervin Block is an old pro at television newswriting from whom anyone could learn a lot. I know. I have." — Charles Kuralt
"There is a crying need for the sort of workshop that Mervin Block has the unique talent to lead."
"Thanks again for a terrific show [in London] today. I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Learn more about his workshop, see his writing tips and read about his books.
Writing Broadcast News Shorter, Sharper, Stronger: A Professional Handbook, 3rd Edition
published November 2010, Mervin Block, ISBN 978-1-60871-417-9, Print Cloth, $44.95
Video created by Bill Corsa (www.specialtybooks.com)
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