[Ads-l] one of the only?

[George Thompson]

>From a recent obituary
​in the NYTimes:
​
Toots Thielemans, one of the only musicians to have a successful career as
a jazz harmonica player, died on Monday in Brussels. He was 94.

​
I would write "​
the only musician to have a successful career as a jazz harmonica player
​" or
"​
on
​e of ​
the
​few ​
musician
​s​
to have a successful career as a jazz harmonica player
​"
 --
​ ​
no doubt because I am an old codger.​
​
I believe that the first statement is true, the second the sort of waffling
that is common in the press, leading to statements like "the Battle of
Gettysburg is widely regarded as an important event in the Civil War", but
that's another matter.​

​GAT

​
George A. Thompson
The Guy Who Still Looks Stuff Up in Books.
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern
Univ. Pr., 1998.

But when aroused at the Trump of Doom / Ye shall start, bold kings, from
your lowly tomb. . . .

L. H. Sigourney, "Burial of Mazeen", *Poems*.  Boston, 1827, p. 112

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