Jack Rosenthal on writing

In the end, writing--no matter how conversational the style--is writing. That means it is permanent. In speech, to be casual is to  be friendly. In writing, to follow the rules is to be clear

To 'talk it over' means to weigh and test; to put something into 'black and white' means to decide, to freeze the thought. Spoken English may soften the strictures of written English, but the need for rules endures. There's a time to say 'well, kind of' and a time for writing to right wrongs.

--Jack Rosenthal, principal editor of the Kerner Report on the 1967 racial riots after MLK's assassination,  quoted remarks on the 150th anniversary of The New York Times, in his obituary 8/25/2017, NYT