About Prof-Edit

Professional Editing, of course. Who We Are Prof-Edit is owned and operated by Teresa Nolan Barensfeld, who has been an editorial professional since 1991. She also calls upon a team of highly skilled and experienced professionals for her proofreading service, as well as for assistance on large copyediting projects. BIOGRAPHY Teresa Barensfeld has a BS in mathematics and computer science, summa cum laude. When she began copyediting and proofreading in 1991, Teresa specialized first in her college-major fields, then expanded into various subjects, especially STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), the social sciences, education, and political science. She loves editing because she learns something new every day and gets paid to correct other people’s mistakes. Before her editing career, she worked as a computer programmer for Morgan Stanley & Company, a business manager for BCR (a woodworking company), a designer/sewist, and a tax preparer. In her spare time, Teresa enjoys using her sewing and design skills to create quilts, apparel, and other textile arts; she is a member of the Board of the Chatham Public Library; and she heads up Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF every year with the fifth graders at Chatham Middle school. EDUCATION Cornell University, Pace University Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude

Activities Teresa is a long-time member of the Editorial Freelancers Association and is coordinator of the Upper Hudson Valley, NY, chapter. In the past, she has served as a member-at-large on the EFA Board of Governors. CONTACT info@prof-edit.com

The Gourmet’s Tail Have an Abecedarium on Me by James R. Nolan (excerpts) ABECEDARIUM: Any situation, relatively brief, in which all the letters of a phonetic alphabet occur at least once. For the English alphabet, this situation would specify a sentence, a phrase, or a paragraph/verse in which all 26 letters are present. In the United States the most well known abecedarian is the moralistic, schoolroom favorite, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." The author of this popular phrase is not known, but it was in common use as an exercise phrase in handwriting manuals of the late 19th century. Equally unknown is the author of what is perhaps the second most utilized abecedarian sentence: "Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs." Needless to say, this robust but scallywag sentiment does not appear in any elementary school books. It was and still is the standard phrase used by the printing industry in their catalogs to display different lettering styles of type. Some scholars—who claim that the author of both of these succinct, endurable abecedaria must have been Lewis Carroll—point to the not so well-known abecedarium, "Cloxy dugadies brumpf and jovik in the fowzest." Only Carroll, they argue, would have had the talent and the nerve to compose such a nonsensical but properly syntactical set of words. Other scholars have scoffed at these Carrollites and have insisted that this phrase clearly shows the rhythmic touch of Edward Lear. The main obstacle inhibiting the easy creation of abecedaria is generated by only two letters, the J and the Q. Consider the letter Q. After the author has discarded commoners such as quill, quick, quiet, quaff, and requiem, there simply aren’t many Q words left from which an appropriate selection can be made. Consider the letter J. Were it not for the quaint spelling of the word “heritage,” not a single one of Spenser’s 905 verses would qualify as an abecedarium. For my calligraphy students, I solved the J problem by composing The Gourmet’s Tail, a fitting epigram to toast the epicurean holiday. Thanksgiving Day casts a cozy meal, Exigently so I’ve heard, When piquant sapajou stuffing Is strictly for the bird. About the author: James R. Nolan, PhD, is a professor emeritus of biology and art at the State University of New York. He lives in Plattsburgh, NY, with his wife, Marta B. Nolan, and assorted ferns.