Posts by Peter Wood

April 24, 2012, 11:13 AM ET

How to Be Succinct

By Peter Wood

A woman seated next to our famously laconic 30^th president at a White House dinner sallied, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet that I can get you to say more than two words." Coolidge coolly dispatched her: "You lose." Like many such stories that seem to capture the characteristic grain of a man, this one is more folklore than fact. It exists in dozens of versions but hasn’t been traced to any reliable firsthand observer. But it is worth treasuring the same way we treasure Parson Weems's fables (“I cannot tell a lie.”) about George Washington’s childhood. Succinctness in riposte is one thing. (“Nuts,” was General McAuliffe’s one-word reply to the German demand that he surrender during the Battle of the Bulge.) It is harder to achieve when the occasion calls for synthesis. Lincoln did it. The Gettysburg Address offers a new birth of freedom in 271 words. Hamlet’s “To be,... Read More

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March 9, 2011, 01:59 PM ET

NPR Blues

By Peter Wood

Vivian Schiller, the chief operating officer of National Public Radio, was just dismissed by NPR’s board of directors. The firing comes a day after news broke that the president of the NPR Foundation and senior vice president for development Ron Schiller (no relation to Vivian) had been caught on videotape at Café Milano in Georgetown disparaging conservatives and Republicans. NPR moved quickly to repudiate Ron Schiller’s remarks and last night announced that he had been removed from his position. The removal was only a small adjustment of dates since he had announced several weeks ago that he was resigning to take another position. The NPR board apparently decided it was too little too late and threw Vivian overboard as well. The story has political traction because of efforts in the House of Representatives to cut off federal funding for NPR, and one of Ron Schiller’s... Read More