Words Matter #1


"A Tree Older Than Columbus Finally Succumbs"
NY Times
October 17, 2016


"It is a huge oak tree, now estimated to be 600 years old.  Arborists such as Rob Gillies consider it one of the oldest in North America.  It is a local landmark, right there in the cemetery of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church.


On Thursday, Mr. Gillies sliced into it with a chain saw."
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Don't you just love contrast?  This is where a journalist can really shine--proposing an image and then abruptly changing the direction.  The writer wants you to feel for the tree, and it is the succinct "sliced into it" that makes the story come alive.