Maggie's Farm

Leag ... You apparently don't believe is spellchek, and perhaps that is wise, since you need more help than that little computer program can give you. As a lifelong editor and writer, I'm afraid that if you submitted the two posts above to me as manuscripts, I would have to use my red pencil quite often. You misspelled petulant, nostalgia, thought, and used "hear" when you meant "here." You used Miss Manner's twice. Her name is Manners and if you wish to make it the possessive, you must add the apostrophe after the 's', not before. In case you doubt my skills, I learned them in the good old days when grammar was still taught in grammar schools and high schools, and graduated with a B.A. in English in 1951 from a large Eastern university.

You might benefit from reading a charming little book on the correct use of the apostrophe and the comma, called Eats, Shoots and Leaves. It was written by an Englishwoman who has been so crazed by the misuse of commas and apostrophes that she goes around to public signs and corrects them. It's a funny book, but the grammar is correct.

Marianne Matthews