And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I noticed that in the news this Monday morning of the week of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta, GA, there were severe weather warnings for that area.

That’s always an event held in beautiful surroundings, if not always beautiful weather.

Yesterday, one of the dailies did a story about Iowan Zach Johnson, who won that event ten years ago. The story noted that he has won 11 other tournaments, including the British Open in 2015. Last year seemed to be not a very good year for Zach, but the story says he won over $1.7 million in 2016, which would be a pretty good year for any businessman. His lifetime earnings in prize money top $40.8 million, at age 41.

Key words in that final sentence are prize money.

A few years back, after Zach had finished near the bottom of those who had made the cut in a lesser tournament, I noticed his prize money was just over $10,000. Professional golf is a fairly expensive lifestyle. Transportation, housing, entry fee, caddie costs, etc. I sort of wondered what a break-even number might be, so I called the golf writer of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, who I figured might have an idea. He essentially said not to worry, that a successful pro makes money in a lot of other ways. I had seen commercials for golf clubs and golf balls, and figured they were for pay.

But it wasn’t until I saw the photo of Zach that went with the story that I noticed his shirt was almost as decorated with corporate logos as a stock car! I could see Transamerica on his cap, FJ on his glove, Netjets on the collar, possibly Aegon on his right sleeve, and Country Inns on his left sleeve, as examples.

Please believe I am merely curious and wanting to offend no one as I wander into this next unknown category.

The Gazette recently ran an op-ed piece by a high school student urging understanding and acceptance of trans-sexual individuals.

There was a very small thumbnail photo of the writer, but too small to be of much help. The writer’s first name was Trint. At the end, the Gazette noted that Trint is a 15-year-old student from Dyersville, and that they go to Beckman high school.

They?

No co-author was indicated.

So I wondered, is that the AP style book’s rule? If an individual’s chromosomes indicate one sex but that individual’s mind says the opposite, it is probably not correct to use “he” or “she” without offense, and the neutral pronoun “it” would be even more offensive.

So do writers give credence to both by using the plural “they” instead?

Or, was it simply an editing error?