So much of the humor of Sam Clemens was dependent on his gift of exaggeration, but he did not exaggerate when he called attention to the fact of how essential it is to good writing that one uses exactly the right word. How many times I have read something by someone expecting to be taken seriously, and doomed their effort by the use of nearly the right word, but not exactly the right word. This of course goes beyond the efforts of people that simply don’t know how to write and often use words incorrectly and know nothing of syntax or the proper rules of grammar.

But not even the greatest of writers is immune from their personal demons. A good example from one of our greatest writers Sinclair Lewis comes immediately to mind in this context. Struggling with his own demons Sinclair Lewis has Mr. Pengilly ask Elmer Gantry why he does not believe in God? You don’t read far in the works of great writers but what you soon realize these were struggling with issues that haunted them, Herman Melville being one of the more obvious.

In the case of Lewis with his character Gantry, there is the dichotomy of being a scoundrel on the one hand and heroic on the other. What Lewis did not seem to realize was despite the hypocrisy of Gantry, Lewis leaves no doubt in the minds of readers Gantry is a believer in God. In Lewis’ effort to skewer religious hypocrisy and blinded by some personal demon he was trying to exorcise, he skewers himself with this glaring contradiction, a glaring error in the novel. Trying for dramatic effect, Lewis failed to use “exactly the right word” in this instance. He could easily have had Mr. Pengilly question Gantry’s belief in God rather than the abrupt, obvious statement of outright condemnation: “Mr. Gantry; why don’t you believe in God?” This would have let Lewis off the hook; but whatever was haunting Lewis, perhaps even tormenting him that caused such an egregious error made him blind to the obvious.

The stories are legion about brilliant and gifted people making blunders. But little has been written about such people making such blunders in attempts to exorcise some demon in their life, and writing being in many cases a form of catharsis it isn’t any wonder some of these blunders on the part of brilliant and gifted people reveal the demons. The really great storytellers redeem themselves by producing great works of literature; but invariably reveal the things that are haunting or tormenting them in the process. Finding such ghosts and demons in the great works of literature is somewhat like the popular show “Ghost Hunters,” but requires much more effort of the mind and a great breadth of reading.

In “Some Came Running,” Dave doesn’t realize the story he has written is finished until Gwen points this out to him. It is a classic case of a writer who has written better than they know; and we find this to be true of many great writers. Certainly James Jones was fully aware of this, and it caused him to make a point of it; he knew this is one of the ghosts that haunts all gifted writers, but he also knew some such ghosts are friendly and others are not, that some may be demons the writer is attempting to exorcise.

It is a tragedy for America that our young people are not learning to read and write, that our great heritage of literature has fallen on such hard times. How many a young person might be able to deal with their own ghosts and demons if they were being properly instructed in the art of writing, and learning the critical thinking skills of dissecting and analyzing the great works of literature doing some “ghost hunting” of their own. In the process of discovery, young people would come to realize that even the greatest names in literature had their own ghosts and demons; and this would be of comfort to young people today, helping them to realize they are not alone in their private thoughts of such things, but on the contrary are in the very best of company.

Of course this would require good teachers, those that are literate and love great literature, capable of instructing young people in the fine arts of writing and reading well. But the universities are no longer producing such teachers, a point made painfully clear by Harper Lee over forty years ago, and one with which I am all too painfully aware from personal experience. It would take a great deal more than throwing the money of taxpayers at the problem to fix it, it would require a leadership capable of recognizing there is no “royal path to knowledge,” nor is there one to making children and their education a primary goal of America. “No Child Left Behind” is nothing but empty political rhetoric until the problems in the universities of America are fixed, until the ugly reality of what our educational system has become is confronted and dealt with realistically.

The joy of teaching for me was in a large measure leading young people into new worlds of exploration and discovery, not just the rote memorization of facts needful as some of these are. If those presently contending for the White House had such an experience working with children and young people how much more believable they might be. As it is, I doubt any of them have known the thrill of discovery in searching for the ghosts haunting great writers, I doubt any of them would even know what I mean by such a thing; though in time past even some politicians were gifted writers and readers of great literature.