She was wonderful, and the kids were, too, asking questions, taking notes, obviously fascinated.īefore she came, I wasn’t sure her presentation would fill our hour-and-a-half, which it did, but I prepared for any leftover time, just in case. To the workshop kids, she discussed etymology in general, the roots of some particular words, and a few reasons for the oddities of English spelling and punctuation.
Pat is delightful, and she and Leonard Lopate have great fun with our wild and wayward language. I discovered Pat because I often listen to the Leonard Lopate show on WNYC (online or at 93.9 FM, 820 AM) and I always listen when Pat is on, which is the third Wednesday of every month at about 1:30 pm. O’Conner (spelled correctly with an e), word maven and author of many books about English. Last Thursday, a guest came and talked to the kids in my creative-writing workshop in Brewster, New York.
