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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2018)
Wednesday, March 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The people behind The Nugget... Pete Rathbun often wears a T-shirt that reads: “Letʼs eat grandma.” “Letʼs eat, grandma.” Commas save lives! The man takes his com- mas seriously — which is a good thing for a proofreader. Rathbun has spent the past 12 years at his desk at The Nugget on Mondays, “pour- ing red ink all over a small- town newspaper.” He says, “I just enjoy being involved in putting a little bit of final polish on what’s already a quality publication.” Pete believes in standards — even in an Internet world where people aren’t even aware of a difference between “then” and “than.” “Language is important, and accuracy in language is important,” he says. “It’s how we communicate. Grammar and punctuation make you accurate.” He says he agrees with the author of the best- selling book “Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach To Punctuation” that “most all punctuation is about pace and timing, which promotes clarity.” That said, he’s the first to note “that even a proofreader needs a proofreader.” No matter how fine the sieve, something’s bound to slip through. Nugget editor Jim Cornelius finds the backstop Rathbun provides invaluable. “I’m a lousy proofreader,” Cornelius said. “I tend to read what ʻshould’ be on the page rather than what actually is on the page, so I tend to miss punctuation errors. Bad gram- mar jumps out, but I can be a bit punctuation-blind. Pete flags that stuff. I also rely on him sometimes to turn an edi- torial eye on something I’ve written. He’s got a good ear for tone. And he’s also a hoot to work with.” Rathbun’s particular punc- tuation pet peeves are over- capitalization and misplaced apostrophes. Seeing Sister’s instead of Sisters is sure to elicit a menacing growl. He also decries the over-use of commas, “even though I think there’s a place for an Oxford comma here and there.” Rathbun earned his inter- est in written language the Pete Rathbun old-fashioned way: as a reader. “I’m a lifelong vora- cious reader,” he said with a chuckle. “And I had more time to read after I dropped out of high school.” Language is important, and accuracy in language is important. It’s how we communicate. Grammar and punctuation make you accurate. — Pete Rathbun He’s quick to note that proofreading isn’t the same thing as reading for content. “My job is to find the mis- takes,” he said. “Even though I read literally every word in the newspaper, don’t ask what’s in there; I may not be able to tell you.” Rathbun is “an electri- cian by trade” and has been a wildland firefighter, a ranch hand, and a sailor. Currently PHOTO BY JIM CORNELIUS Pete Rathbun — the man with the red pen. and for the past 11 years he has served as operations and IT director for Sisters Folk Festival. He’s also the sound engineer for the band The Anvil Blasters and handles sound for several events in Sisters. He has also freelanced his proofreading skills to sev- eral local authors for their books. “I like to have diversity in what I do, and the jobs that I have are challenging,” he said. “The work I do for The Nugget takes three or four hours a week, so it’s not like I spend all my time filling up paper with red ink. Probably, if it was a larger paper, I wouldn’t want to do it.” In addition to his multi- tude of gigs, Rathbun likes to fly radio-controlled aircraft and he enjoys hiking and shooting. “Occasionally, I get the chance to go fishing,” he says. Fish don’t care about com- mas, capitals and apostrophes. Now you can help The Nugget continue its journalistic mission The Nugget Readers like you can join our loyal advertisers in bringing The Nugget to Sisters — for free — every week! Thank you for supporting us! Make a fi nancial contribution to keep professional community journalism thriving in Sisters... ܂ $50/year Supporting Subscription ܂ $100/year Sustaining Subscription ܂ $________ Other Contribution Three easy ways to support community journalism: • Complete the form below and mail today • Call 541-549-9941 and pay by credit card • Go to NuggetNews.com to contribute online Name __________________________________________________________________ Address _________________ City ______________ State ____ Zip _________ Visit NuggetNews.com, stop by the offi ce at 442 E. Main Ave. (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri), call us at 541-549-9941, or drop a check in the mail. Phone ______________ Email ___________________________________________ ܂ Check enclosed ܂ Please charge my credit card Visa/MasterCard __________________________ Exp. __ /__ Security Code ___ Mail to: The Nugget, PO Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759 PHOTO BY GARY MILLER 13
