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Some of The Moodie Report team, notably myself and Dermot Davitt, are well-known faces in the travel retail industry. But there are also a number of vital people behind the scenes who make the Moodie organisation tick.
One such individual is Jon Elphick, Chief Sub-Editor since December 2003.
Jon is responsible for policing (and, believe me, that is the appropriate term) The Moodie Report’s house style across all our print and e-Zine publications, sub-editing, proofing, tweaking and signing off pages once they have been through the design process.
He is scrupulous to the point of pedantry; can spot a typo at 1,000 metres; and has a work ethic that would put any Trojan to shame. Misuse of the apostrophe to Jon is a worse sin than any of the seven deadly ones and none of the Moodie team, including myself, have escaped his censure when we have erred from grace.
When it’s time for our annual Print Edition for the Cannes show (this year a 400-page blockbuster, plus a Category Insight supplement), Jon – known to us all (partly affectionately) as Herr Flick – goes into overdrive, one half of a peerless double act with designer Ray Heath. When people express amazement at our output (three e-Zines in October, plus the print publications, as well as our daily web coverage), it’s a tribute as much to Jon and Ray as it is to Dermot, me and the rest of our great editorial team.
But this year we had to produce our Cannes editions without Herr Flick, after he suffered a mild heart attack on the eve of the publication cycle. Jon, well looked after as always by his loving wife Pam, is now recovering well from a triple bypass, which he had last Thursday.
But even while he sat in hospital awaiting his operation, Herr Flick’s laser-like sub’s eye was sharp enough to spot the following horror sign: ‘The stationary cupboard has been moved.’ Ouch.
One feels Jon might even have spotted the error while lying stationery (whoops, sorry, stationary) on the operating table. I can hear his “Oh for goodness sake!” reaction from here.
All part of the healing process Herr Flick. Get well soon. And by the way, should the full stop be inside or outside the quote mark in ‘The stationary cupboard has been moved.’ ?
Hi Jon
Thankfully I have never been the wrong side of you, but I can be side by side for what happened, and I am a Heart Attack survivor as you are so maybe we should meet sometime to celebrate. More importantly you can give me a lesson or two on the nuances (golly does that need an apostrophe?) of correct grammar.
Follow the advice and be patient!!
Best wishes
Martyn
As someone whose colons have suffered at Jon’s hands, let me be among the many wishing the Kopiezurichtenführer a full and speedy recovery. All the best Jon; may you be back teasing The Moodie Report into shape very soon.