THE Gobbledygook Eradicator Page

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Contents:

Decades past, the NASA DEH co-author, Jerry Woodfill, was frustrated with his inept writing. After years of composing NASA trip reports, technical articles, meeting summaries, and weekly activity reports, he had the usual government worker's penchant for gobbledygook. Rarely did Jerry depart from the passive voice and effete verbs. His sentences rambled on and on. Commas, appositives, and coordinating conjunctions lulled him in a "stream of consciousness" kind of prose.

Worst of all, he caught the disease of inflated style. This, he deemed "erudite". The more convoluted and complex, the greater pride he took in it. Using acronyms along with the latest management "buzz" words would surely impress his boss! It didn't.

Then he discovered a wonderful book. It is on what this section of the DEH is based, Gobbledygook Has Gotta Go. The book so motivated and inspired Jerry that writing became an off-the-job hobby. He began writing books, short stories, and even historic space recollections.

After losing that first copy of Gobbledygook, he bought another. Losing the second copy, he borrowed the NASA JSC library copy. Providentially, his NASA supervisor enrolled Jerry in a technical writing course. Fortunately, the professor, Dr. Mary Fae McKay, shared Jerry's dim view of gobbledygook. (Her husband worked at the space center.) Jerry's treasured text was among those Dr. McKay used as a class resource. Making an "A" in the course was difficult. Yet, Jerry prevailed. His innovative Space Educators' Handbook project profited. Its narratives were an outgrowth of both the gobbledygook book and Dr. McKay's instruction.

In appreciation, hoping others enjoy the benefits of Gobbledygook Has Gotta Go, Jerry scanned and digitized this wonderful little volume for world wide use on the Internet. It is in the public domain, a U.S. Government publication. No other digitized versions have previously existed (as of May 2009). Hopefully, it will inspire others. May they use it to write with clarity. And, perhaps, they, too, will enjoy writing as both a hobby and art.