Buddy, can you paradigm?

Abstract

George is our beloved, self-declared curmudgeon. He is a workhorse for AJDC, holding the record for most manuscripts refereed and for the shortest turnaround time of all of our reviewers. George provides in-depth comments designed to assist authors, whether the decision is to accept or reject the manuscript. Reading his comments is an education for all of us, not the least of whom are the authors. I have received a number of gracious comments concerning his reviews, and not all from authors whose work was accepted. George also accompanies his reviews of manuscripts with comments for the editor—these are terse, always humorous, and intended to lighten what he believes is the "burden" of editorship. He comments on my local geography, flora and fauna, the travails of difficult judgments, and sundry other unrelated items. Occasionally, he sends me a cartoon, suitably modified for the editor's lot. In each instance, these "bon mots" bring a smile to me and to those in our editorial group who have the pleasure of reading both his trenchant, on-the-mark reviews and the added fillip. He is not above punning, as the title of this month's contribution clearly illustrates. George has also contributed scholarly articles to AJDC and other journals on the statistical aspects of research and publication. George also is very persnickety about correct language usage and mathematical expression. He points out small errors that occasionally creep into AJDC after escaping the eyes of the editors and others. He has even had the audacity to write a letter to the editor of the journal on which he serves as a board member! I guess he does qualify as a curmudgeon, even if it is his own designation, but to all of us at AJDC, he is a lovable one at that! We are most grateful for his hard work, good sense, and sense of humor. Long live curmudgeons like George.—V.A.F.