The best writers know the value of a great editor

Behind every great column is a great editor — a truism never more so than when Alan Shearer puts highlighter (not red pen) to copy.

Shearer, who has run the Washington Post’s syndication operation the past 26 years, has managed to ignore the wailing, weeping and lamentations of his devoted cadre of columnists and cartoonists and retires next week.

To the dustbin of history goes not Alan, as his well-spelled words, his hyphenated adjectives and hyperbole-resistant attention to perfecting prose will persist through thousands upon thousands of published columns bearing someone else’s name. It is time you knew his. Shearer is editor to a stable of 20 writers, many of whom are destination columnists, including George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Fareed Zakaria, Eugene Robinson, Ruth Marcus and Dana Milbank among others.

At a farewell party, writers took turns praising Alan, who stood stoically to the rear betraying nothing and tolerating what he termed an excess of hyperbole.

That’s Alan: deadpan, reserved, modest, generous, tough, tolerant, and thoughtful. It would never occur to him to take credit or even allow mention of his role in a writer’s success, though he deserves a great deal of it.

Based on Thursday’s testimonials, I think it’s safe to say that we don’t only admire Alan; we love him. Some even said so. He isn’t only a great editor but also a great leader with an eye for quality.

We have all been hand-picked by Alan. (I pause here to wonder whether hand-picked is hyphenated, knowing that Alan’s team will put it right. His epitaph, he once told me, would read: “The un-hyphenated life isn’t worth living.”)

Part of our affection for Alan stems from his dedication to our craft — for making us the best we can be — but also for his generosity in being invisible. The hand of a good editor should never be seen. When you, gentle reader, peruse the op-ed page and read a Kathleen Parker column, you will not know that someone else may have suggested a better word, or found that a fact was either lacking or incorrect (and corrected), or reminded me for the 100th time that there is no comma preceding “but” when the introductory clause begins “not only,” or that I keep writing Medicare when I mean Medicaid, dadgummit.

Alan will write a note of appreciation before the bloodletting begins with a “nice job” or “good stuff here.” On those rare occasions when he jots “Brilliant” or “Fantastic,” my feet don’t touch the ground until the next day.

You see, there’s nothing quite like knowing you’ve written something not bad at all.

Such is the ultimate gift of the editor to the writer, for which we finally thanked him.

George Will began his comments by spelling a word — m-in-u-s-c-u-l-e.

“There,” he said, “I’ve finally mastered it.”

Apparently, even the longestwriting columnist among us is imperfect. I can’t account for how happy this makes me. Marcus said she was surprised to learn that Alan all along had been editing so many other writers as well as her. Like the rest of us, she had thought she was the only one. This is because Alan makes each writer feel that he or she is the most important, the most gifted, the most adored.

In addition to being the finest editor any of us have ever worked with, Alan is a thoroughly decent human being and a consummate gentleman. He is also kind. When I suffered a concussion and had to stop writing for a while, he held my place and my hand, reminding me of how rare he is in a media world that has become heartless and self-important.

So, for now, farewell, fine sir — and thank you for bringing me to the party.