Fred Mish

[Joanne Despres]

I am sorry to have to inform you that Frederick C. Mish, former
editor-in-chief, editorial director, and vice president of Merriam-Webster,
died on September 27 of this year.  In his 29-year career with the company,
Fred was responsible for overseeing editorial work on the ninth, tenth, and
eleventh editions of the Collegiate Dictionary and numerous other
dictionaries and reference books bearing the company's name.  A book he was
particularly proud to see published during his tenure was Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary of English Usage, for which he did a complete review of the
manuscript at the final editing stage.  A member of the Dictionary Society
of North America, American Dialect Society, Linguistic Society of America,
and National Council of Teachers of English, Fred gave frequent public talks
on American English and the making of dictionaries and appeared on several
nationally televised programs, including William Buckley's Firing Line, CBS
Morning News, and Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt, spreading the good
word about dictionaries and doing his part to dispel the common
misconceptions.  He also raised three sons, Stephen, David, and Andrew, with
his wife Judy, and was active in the community life of their home town,
Longmeadow, Massachusetts.  His colleagues at Merriam-Webster will remember
him for his high standards of scholarship and firm sense of commitment to
the company's traditional strengths as well as his sensitivity and
self-deprecating wit.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org