‘Kissed’ Cousins

Re “Cleaning Up Copy in ‘Kissed,’ ” by Kristen Walbolt and Tracy Boucher (Riffs, May 6):

I revere copy editors. They are my soul siblings, for I am a fact checker (for Modern Maturity magazine). Together we worship grammatical accuracy and arcane bits of information. When copy editors and fact checkers huddle, writers go pale.

Copy editors are the only people I know who don’t flinch when I ask, “What is the source of this information?” They share my deep concern that the whole comprises the parts, that “The” is included in the names of The New Yorker and The New York Times, and that the word “zydeco” is an alteration of the French word for beans.

MARCIA FORSBERG

Rancho Santa Margarita