Dear Anthony,
I should probably keep out of this. However . . .
So I've just re-read this from a few days ago:
I am the vile editor of the NPS Journal who changed the title of Anthony's
article without his consent and I have apologized to him privately and will
publish a full apology in the next issue.
A private apology, a public recantation of the reason for the apology and a
promise of a specific published apology seems fairly gracious. What else can
the Editor do?
Life's too short (and today's too hot) so let's not get back to the old days
of unmusical controversy on this list.
By the way, I re-read your article with great interest and pleasure and am glad
to repeat the link here:
http://www.robbpipes.com/AnyoneForARant
As for the title, the word 'rant' has a specific meaning in traditional music
known and properly understood mostly by a small number of the inhabitants at
the Northern end of this island.
However, the NPS Journal (and this Dartmouth list) circulates worldwide to
readers of English who natively use this word in one sense only.
My point in saying so is that there is always the likelihood of a humourous
leak between the two meanings. You're right to object if you think this was
done deliberately in a title change which you did not like. The Editor was
right to apologise. But for a huge number of people, this word-association is
going to happen anyway. For most people, I'd suggest that it doesn't seem
absent from your chosen title.
Best wishes,
Francis
Francis
On 3 Jul 2011, at 09:04, Anthony Robb wrote:
As I'm aware that many out there will not share my rather high tedium
tolerance level I'd decided to let this one go but a Sunday morning
chat over a cuppa with Heather has persuaded me to make a couple of
points:
1) The apology Barry refers to was in relation to not sending me a
proof and despite my explanation that what I found upsetting was the
change in tenor of the piece as a result of the alteration of the title
and the ditching of the subtitle no further apology was forthcoming.
Now that it has it is gratefully acknowledged and received.
The thing I found very puzzling was that the Magazine had changed into
a Journal for that edition but the editor made an artistic decision as
though it was still a magazine.
2) The article on Hannah and Jimmy did take some sorting out but I
would like to point out that this was largely as a result of the editor
retyping the whole piece and the inevitable slips which ensued.
Perhaps some guidance for fitting in with 'the house style' might
lessen the workload for contributor and editor in the future.
Cheers
Anthony
--- On Fri, 1/7/11, barr...@nspipes.co.uk barr...@nspipes.co.uk
wrote:
From: barr...@nspipes.co.uk barr...@nspipes.co.uk
Subject: [NSP] Re: Re:
To: Dartmouth NPS nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu
Date: Friday, 1 July, 2011, 21:28
(Suspicious voice)
Hullo,
Anyone there? I've got my tin hat on. Any incoming fire?
(Normal voice)
Attempts at humour on the internet are dangerous and generally
misunderstood.
I am the vile editor of the NPS Journal who changed the title of
Anthony's article without his consent and I have apologized to him
privately and will publish a full apology in the next issue.
Anthony presented two contributions to the Journal, the rant article
coming earlier in the year well before any start had been made on
compiling the issue and then later I received, the wonderful interview
with Hannah Hutton and Jimmy Little which threw so much light on a
particular section of our tradition and together with Hannah's
photographs it became a very important part of the Journal. i am sure
that Anthony remembers that article going back and forth for correction
until we got it as right as possible.
While this was going on, I was typesetting the magazine which involves
competing
influences, to get the content balanced , to get articles starting on
the left or right as appropriate, to end up with a multiple of 4 pages,
and I thought that there would not be room for Anthony's Rant article,
until almost magically as I tidied up all the pages, a space appeared
which demanded an article of just about that length. A few font
changes... and it was in and I was grateful.
I assembled the whole thing, hit the build contents key -- and the
contents page didn't reflect the energy contained in the publication. I
looked down the contents and felt that Anthony's title did not sit well
against the previous title, and (woe is me) I tried changing Anthony's
title in what I thought was a subtle and slightly humorous way and the
magazine felt more balanced. However, I forgot to seek Anthony's
permission. OOps. An editor must not offend his correspondents or the
Journal will be empty.
So again I apologize for my oversight as I will do in any