Jeff Deck & Benjamin D. Herson
Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson have over 100,000 readers following their blog. A former magazine editor, Jeff has a Creative Writing degree from Dartmouth College. Fellow Dartmouth grad Benjamin is a bookseller at a Borders Books outside Oregon.
When Jeff and Benjamin corrected a sign at the Grand Canyon, the Feds took notice, and greeted them with a lawsuit for defacing federal property and violating “criminal statues.”
As part of the terms of their settlement, Jeff and Benjamin agreed not to correct typos for a year. Instead they wrote a book which has gone on to be selected as a Boston Globe bestseller.
____________________________
About the book:
The Great Typo Hunt:
Two Friends Changing the World
One Correction at a Time
(Crown, September 2010)
In the vein of Eats, Shoots and Leaves and A Walk in the Woods, The Great Typo Hunt gives readers a look into history, education, racism, and life through the miswritten word. Armed with markers, chalk, and correction fluid, two young grammar vigilantes set off on a cross-country quest to right the wrongs of punctuation by correcting glaring errors displayed at grocery stores, museums, malls, restaurants, mini-golf courses, beaches, billboards, and national monuments.
While championing the cause of clear communication, Jeff and Benjamin learn more than they’d bargained for. Ultimately their typo-hunting journey leads to unexpected realizations about communication, culture, and society and tells a larger story not just of proper punctuation but of the power of language and literacy—and the importance of always taking a second look.
____________________________
Speaking Topics:
