We Have Adopted This Affectation

A used-to-be-common affectation of magazine and newspaper writers was to take the third person.

Rather than say, "I saw this," they wrote, "The author observed that."

Mike "Duke" Venturino might have been among the last of the gun writers who was still using this affectation in his writing.

I have complained about it before.

But I need to concede that his work was solid and his wife was an excellent photographer.  They made a good team.

I never once caught him being wrong about a topic I knew well, which is more than I can say about younger and more recent authors whose writing style I prefer.

He was an author I'd grit my teeth and endure because his facts were straight even if he impressed himself with his own gun collection.  He wrote so far in the third person he named himself and said he was impressed with his own gun collection!

You can take the conceit too far.

Mr Venturino is no longer among us, but his body of work survives.

Here's a cursory review of two of his books.

We Don't Like It

I was reading Guns magazine's online edition.

Mike "Duke" Venturino's writing style bugs me.

I don't like the third person conceit in magazine writing.

An aside to his style is he's managed to find a gig where he's paid to brag about his gun collection.  That really pisses me off!  Purely jealous, of course...

Another Old West Gunwriter Passes

Phil Spangenberger has left the chat.

2024 has been rough on the people who wrote about cowboy guns.

Mike Venturino was just a bit ago, back in June.

Archaic

I hate the conceit of the third person that still clings to gun writing.

Mike "Duke" Venturino is the one who bugs me the most...

Look, "Duke", you wrote the article, you and your wife took the pictures; I can tell from the by-line and credits.  Writing it as if you were visiting yourself is archaic enough but the awed by "Duke's" collection of guns in your tone is just aggravating and makes reading about an otherwise interesting old gun a teeth gritting exercise in gutting through your writing style to get the content.

And, yes, I've complained about him before.  A note to Guns magazine, as long as he's employed by you; not one more dime from me.  He's that bad.