Many of you will not know who Annette Harrison is. She may never publish a book nor start a blog of her own. But for four years she tirelessly worked behind the scenes on this blog and on my book. She would edit, and sometimes re-edit many times over my early writings. I am in the forgotten generation as far as English grammar is concerned. People older than me had rules drilled into them. We, however, were taught by teachers who learned their craft in the 60’s and felt we should be more ‘liberated.’ By the time my own children start High School, they know the rules of the English language better than I did after finishing university (and to be honest, probably better than I do now!) Annette was patient with me when I kept making the same mistakes and even at times argued back. She even put up with it when, in the early days, I often resisted her suggestions, wanting the blog to be “raw” ! My writing has improved no end. But, I feel I owe her not just this public note of gratitude, but an acknowledgment, for any of her friends who read this, she is no longer in any way responsible for any errors you see here! Not that she ever was, of course, it was always ME who made the mistakes!
Annette’s health has caught up with her. She has arthritis, and it is no longer easy for her to sit at a computer for hours on end. You could pray for a miracle for her, but I also feel that she is at the stage of her life where she deserves a rest! So, after several months of her not being able to edit, and me hoping she might return, it seems clear that, at least for now, I am going to have go on without a safety net.
Unless there is anyone reading this who would like an unpaid, and probably under-appreciated role as an intern or editorial assistant on this blog. If you read this regularly, and find my English errors irritating, feel free to drop me a line on adrian.warnock@gmail.com. You could help me a lot. I suspect, however, that Annette was a unique provision of God for a season in my life. I doubt anyone would be able to give as many hours as she did, especially at first. But then I hope that my writing is not now quite as error-ridden as it was back then!
So, thank you Annette, I really do appreciate all you have done for me and, more importantly for my readers! You have had a ministry that has been behind the scenes but invaluable. Believe it or not, I miss having you tear my writing to shreds!
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