September 26 is one of the most under-celebrated dates on our calendar. In fact, 99.8% of U. S. citizens don't even even know why that date is significant, and that may be just the tip of the iceberg.   

September 26 is, of course, National Punctuation Day, which at least deserves a toast to the semicolon. Although Congress has not yet declared it a national holiday, The Write Stuff is belatedly honoring the occasion by giving away a copy of Lynne Truss's #1 bestseller, Eats, Shoot & Leaves, The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.  

You'll learn how to enter the contest in a minute. But first, I want to enlighten those of you who couldn't care less about punctuation.  

Imagine that your name is John and you are invited to Thanksgiving dinner by a family of cannibals. Which of the following two sentences would you prefer to hear as you sit down at the table?

Let's eat, John.

Let's eat John.

Lynne Truss

Yes, as Lynne Truss points out, punctuation is important, and her delightful humor makes the book especially delightful. For example, she calls attention to the following two letters, which are identical except for the punctuation.  

Dear Jack,

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy-will you let me be yours?

Jill

And here's the same letter punctuated a bit differently:

Dear Jack,

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. Will you let me be?

Yours,

Jill

Now that I've convinced you to mind your commas, here's how to enter the contest for a chance to win a copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

The paragraph below contains five of the most common punctuation errors:   

Its sometimes difficult to know how to punctuate correctly. A few authors of childrens' books make punctuation errors. Many business leaders, including some CEO's, make mistakes, however, they can improve their English with a little effort. So, you should never say, "I'm too old to learn".

Send me a reply email with the paragraph punctuated correctly, and I'll enter your name in the drawing. The winner will be announced in next month's newsletter. (For you English scholars, the professor I hired to grade the entries is American, not British or Canadian.)

By the way, are you wondering how Truss came up with the title for her book? Here's the story:  

A panda walks into a bar. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots into the air.

"Why? Why are you behaving in this strange, un-panda-like fashion?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda walks towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."