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AUTHOR

CALVIN D. LINTON

Educator, Author, Writing Consultant

IKE THE thousands of Government employees who have come to know Dr. Linton through his lectures, you will soon know him through the "written lectures" that comprise this advanced course. For as he teaches "Writing reveals the man."

But we believe the course will have more meaning, more validity, for you if, before you begin it, you know something of Dr. Linton's background-something of his experience as a writing consultant in Federal

agencies.

First, a brief summary of his experience. He is professor of English literature and dean of Columbian College at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He is the author of a number of articles and books; of greatest interest to Internal Revenue employees is his practical, hard-hitting book "How to Write Reports." For the past 14 years, he has served as writing consultant to an increasing number of Federal agencies, among them the Department of Defense, the Forest Service, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Civil Service Commission.

In his work with Government administrators and technical writers, Dr. Linton has come to see clearly the difficult, complex problem we each face in trying to improve the quality of Government writing. His respect for writing, and for all writers who work at the hard job of improving it, makes him skeptical of any superficial counsel and of anything resembling a "gimmick" that would tempt the writer to settle for what appears to be a quick, painless way to improve his writing.

His lectures have been appreciated most by the more sophisticated writer, for Dr. Linton challenges his students to see the close relationship between writing and thinking and the difficulty of improving the one without the other. Defining writing, then, as visible thinking, he singles out and stresses those principles of good writing which will help writers to express their ideas clearly, logically, and effectively.

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