Have you ever heard of a 'Typo Vigilante'?

Question

Typo Fixers Get Probation For Damaging Rare Sign

PHOENIX - When it comes to marking up historic signs, good grammar is a bad defense.

Two self-styled vigilantes against typos who defaced a more than 60-year-old, hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park were sentenced to probation and banned from national parks for a year.

Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson pleaded guilty Aug. 11 for the damage done March 28 at the park's Desert View Watchtower. The sign was made by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the architect who designed the rustic 1930s watchtower and other Grand Canyon-area landmarks.

Deck and Herson, both 28, toured the United States this spring, wiping out errors on government and private signs. They were interviewed by NPR and the Chicago Tribune, which called them "a pair of Kerouacs armed with Sharpies and erasers and righteous indignation."

An affidavit by National Park Service agent Christopher A. Smith said investigators learned of the vandalism from an Internet site operated by Deck on behalf of the Typo Eradication Advancement League, or TEAL.

Authorities said a diary written by Deck reported that while visiting the watchtower, he and Herson "discovered a hand-rendered sign inside that, I regret to report, contained a few errors."

The fiberboard sign has yellow lettering with a black background. Deck wrote that they used a marker to cover an erroneous apostrophe, put the apostrophe in its proper place with white-out and added a comma.

The misspelled word "emense" was not fixed, Deck wrote, because "I was reluctant to disfigure the sign any further. ... Still, I think I shall be haunted by that perversity, emense, in my train-whistle-blighted dreams tonight."

Deck, of Somerville, Mass., and Herson, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to vandalize government property.

They were sentenced to a year's probation, during which they cannot enter any national park or modify any public signs. They were also ordered to pay $3,035 to repair the watchtower sign.

The TEAL Web site now has only this message — "Statement on the signage of our National Parks and public lands to come" — without a period.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080822/ap_on_fe_st/odd_sign_vandals;_ylt=AhgKdhzF_LwKf8JxPAxpzUTtiBIF

Answer 1

I am anal about my spelling... that's a lil crazy though... even I wouldn't go THAT far!!

Answer 2

Wow, that sounds like a guy I used to know!! Some people!!



When they put in a monument at our National Military Park they misspelled something.My daughter saw it & we were very upset, cos we had been anxious to get our state monument.



The other day, we stopped as we went by there & what do ya know, they somehow fixed it! Yeah! For the department of who ever did it!!



Did you know Clint Eastwood once did a commercial about defacing at Military Parks & other National Monuments?



xx

Answer 3

Not before I read that on the yahoo news page. Boy would they love to check out some of the things I've written in the past. Seriously though....who DOES that? LOL

Answer 4

Beautiful, beautiful poem, yet so true. No one should judge anyone. I did a search on that poem and although I am not sure if your paternal grandmother wrote this or not, I found it on a site, it will not let me post the link for some reason, but if you do a search on Google of the two first lines you will find it. I love to write and read poems. Thanks for sharing.

Answer 5

Haha, Yeh I do remember that Eastwood infomericial oxo

Answer 6

LOL at the story. There are some real 'Typo Vigilantes' on Y!A, one mistake and they are in HEAVEN!

Answer 7

I think they should do some serious work on the Constitution.

Answer 8

That's awesome in a wayyy out-of-the-way type of...way.

Answer 9

No i haven't... and to be honest, my second grade teachers failed me... I can't get past the second line.

Answer 10

Wow! The law had best get those horrible criminals off the street............

Answer 11

AHAHAHAAHHAHAHA!!! this is totally me, I could SO see myself doing this. thanks for a laugh

Answer 12

oh really

?

Answer 13

ok?