About Editing and Writing

From a Wall Street Journal story by Rachel Bachman headlined “A Lunch With Roger Federer Helped Fuel Mikaela Shiffrin’s Record Run”:

Mikaela Shiffrin and her mother, Eileen, last March pulled up the drive to a house perched in the Swiss Alps, one of the most breathtaking areas in all of Europe.

They saw a gleaming, modern home. They spied a green wall made famous by a viral video of a tennis player clad all in white—even his fedora—repeatedly volleying a ball during the early stages of the pandemic.

From a story on axios.com by Kia Kokalitcheva headlined “Behind the scenes of AI-generated writing”:

I asked ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence tool that’s taking the world by storm, to write an essay about venture investing in AI.

While it impressively picked up Axios Smart Brevity style, it struggled to remember certain directives, and its writing was quite basic.

Why it matters: Despite growing fears of making certain creative workers (i.e., journalists) obsolete, OpenAI’s writing tool is a long way from being able to replace a writer in our newsroom.

From an AP story by Adam Bean, Travis Loller, and Claire Galofaro headlined “Tyre Nichols remembered as beautiful soul with creative eye”:

On most weekends, Tyre Nichols would head to the city park, train his camera on the sky and wait for the sun to set.

“Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way. It expresses me in ways I cannot write down for people,” he wrote on his website. He preferred landscapes and loved the glow of sunsets most, his family has said.

From a Washington Post column by George F. Will headlined “The Webb Space Telescope is telling humanity the history of everything”:

At the Space Telescope Science Institute, on the Johns Hopkins University campus in Baltimore, a constant torrent of data pours in from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, enabling cosmologists to write ancient history. Not the history of the Greeks and Romans, who lived a mere blink ago. Rather, it is the history of everything.

From a New York Times obit by Richard Sandomir headlined “Billy Packer, Straight-Talking College Basketball Analyst, Dies at 82”:

Billy Packer, the sharp-eyed, opinionated lead college basketball analyst for NBC and CBS whose commentary was heard during every Final Four game of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament from 1975 to 2008, died in Charlotte, N.C.

A former point guard and assistant coach at Wake Forest University, Mr. Packer began as a broadcast analyst in the early 1970s as the men’s tournament, and especially the Final Four, became the signature sports event known as March Madness. He took to the national stage easily with a fast-talking, straightforward style and opinions that provoked strong feelings among fans.

From a Washington Post story by Sydney Page headlined “Homeless mom left her dog with a note ‘Please love me.’ A shelter reunited them.”:

Lilo, a 4-year-old German shepherd-Great Pyrenees mix, was found wandering the streets of Chattanooga, Tenn., alone. All she had with her was a leash and collar — which had a handwritten note attached to it.

“Please keep my name. My name is Lilo,” the note read. “Please love me. My mom can’t keep me and is homeless with 2 kids. She tried her best but can’t get help. I cost too much for her.”

From a New York Times story` by Michael M. Grynbaum and John Koblin headlined “ABC Co-Anchors Are Poised to Leave Network After Tabloid Scandal”:

The “GMA3” anchors T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach are negotiating their exit from ABC News, less than two months after the revelation of their romantic relationship turned into a tabloid feeding frenzy, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Their expected departure comes a day after the start of a mediation between representatives for the anchors and the network.

From an AP story by Vanessa Gera headlined “Auschwitz anniversary marked as peace again shattered by war”:

OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — Auschwitz-Birkenau survivors and other mourners commemorated the 78th anniversary Friday of the Nazi German death camp’s liberation, some expressing horror that war has again shattered peace in Europe and the lesson of Never Again is being forgotten.

The former concentration and extermination camp is located in the town of Oświęcim in southern Poland, which was under the occupation of German forces during World War II and became a place of systematic murder of Jews, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma and others targeted for elimination by Adolf Hitler and his henchmen.

From a Wall Street Journal review by Michael Saler of the book by Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor titled “Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction”:

Mickey Spillane knew how to make crime pay, and he transformed the American publishing industry in the process. Between 1947 and 1952, his first six novels featuring private investigator Mike Hammer, a sadist with a heart of gold, sold millions of copies in paperback—bringing legitimacy to the fledgling format. Spillane’s global sales now exceed 200 million.

From a New York Times obit by Priya Krishna headlined “Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. 85, Dies; Taught Americans How to Cook Chinese Food”:

Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, a pioneer in teaching Americans to cook traditional Chinese food, died on Nov. 13 at her home in Montclair, N.J.

Ms. Lo stood 4-foot-9, but her presence loomed large over Chinese cooking in the United States. She wrote 11 cookbooks, won a James Beard Award and remained committed to her mission of codifying traditional Chinese cooking techniques, a mission that began when U.S. diners were more aware of Americanized dishes like chop suey and chow mein.