Re: Letter to Sis...again

On Thu, 06 Apr 2006 13:47:21 +0100, "Laura F. Spira"
<laura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Ross Howard wrote:

[re Truly]


She was good, wasn't she? For those who came in too late to catch TDW
in her prime, she was the only Woman regular I can remember whose
verbal-aggression skills earned her serious props from Rey (despite
the odd dig about Colorado-bound divorcees that he simply couldn't
resist) -- "the Viper", he used to call her.

I thought it was Queen Cobra?

It most certainly was "Queen Cobra."

Few if any out-and-out
insults were involved in her maulings, but she regularly left her
victims in a charred heap on the floor with a three-line lick of
flame. And that was those who knew her well -- unwary newbies never
stood a cat in hell's chance.

If we leave aside a couple of blind spots -- assuming that all her
readers were quite as interested as she logically was in IBM's
internal procedures, or the small freedom fry on her shoulder about
being American rather than European (including her notorious fear and
loathing of That Austrian Composer) -- she was a fantastic writer,
smart as hell, coffee-spurtingly funny and incredibly quick. Her
ripostes often seemed to hit my screen before the posts she was
responding to.

Detached but not aloof, cutting but not offensive, and no slouch
either when it came to the odd on-topic foray into English usage, she
wasn't just a Woman with a capital "W"; she was a Poster with a
capital "P".

[..]

Absolutely. I'm still in touch with her occasionally and I keep trying
to tempt her back but I think she has A Life.

I imagine she gets paid more for writing fiction that she ever got
paid for writing her posts.

She was never sexist. She'd tear a new *** in another woman if she
felt that was called for. IMHO, she was at her best when she was
explaining English usage. Just recall how she put uploading vs.
downloading to bed.

--
Al in St. Lou
.