She is also the founding editor of
Levenger Press.
Email: mimharrison@bellsouth.net
Blog: mim's blog
On being a language lover
Mim first developed an ear for language in college, during her junior year abroad at the University of Hull, in northeastern England. Having chosen England in part because she (thought she) spoke the language, she quickly learned that Mark Twain was right when he described England and America as being separated by a common language.
The heavy accents and rich idioms of northern England proved to be as far removed from the English of Masterpiece Theatre as she was from home. "It made it challenging traveling the buses, because I never knew what they were saying at any of the stops, but I found it fascinating," she says. "How could this be the same language and yet be so different? And why did it seem that the way people spoke affected the way that they thought?" Like most language lovers, once hooked she has been forever since.
In her work for Levenger Press, she published an abridged edition of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of 1755. "At the time I was working on Johnson, I was reading David McCullough's biography of John Adams, who was a contemporary of Johnson's. Knowing how English speakers of the period defined certain words, such as 'happiness,' gave me a deeper appreciation for Adams's writing - and for the ever-changing nuances of the English language."
