Notes from a manuscript

The Innis House, 1965

Just to offer y’all a little behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes into a manuscript, I thought I’d pass along this quick story, which will, I hope, offer a little levity.

Kris and I are wrapping up work on a writing project that focuses on the Battle of Fredericksburg. The manuscript is currently going through one of its bazillion rounds of proofreading (which, of course, always ends up being not enough). At one point, we have a brief section where we talk about the Innis House on the Fredericksburg battlefield:

The Innis House, in fact, survived two battles here and remained a private residence until January 1970, when the NPS purchased it for $36,600 from Dr. and Mrs. Carter Redd Rowe. By the time of the purchase, a front porch with a swing had been added, as well as a room off of the back of the home. A large television antenna adorned the roof. During a 1970’s restoration, layers of old wallpaper were stripped from the interior, and old siding was removed from the exterior….

One of our proofreaders highlighted the sentence about the large television antenna and offered the following comment: “A sad reminder of Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s promise to bring cable TV to the Confederacy.”



4 Responses to Notes from a manuscript

  1. I am dying laughing! At least it wasn’t a satellite dish! Here in CA solar is all the rage. I live in a Mills Act 1928 California Bungalow, and they quickly put the kabosh of any solar for me! They were even pro-active–the letters were sent to all of us!

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