Except for Grammar, Spelling, Fact, Style, Libel and Taboos

From the fine weblog of Charles Stough, a post for long-suffering editors:

A true-life memo from a perfectly rational copy editor, the selfsame Charley Stough, BONG Chief Copyboy, responding to a reporter's gripe in 1993 at the Dayton Daily News. The reporter's name is unrecorded here. Let that be a lesson:
"I wouldn't mess with your stories. Your stories are perfect, just like you. I place your stories on a pedestal and bask in their radiance. I imagine sitting with them in darkened bistros, with soft music of Gypsy violins and eunuchs for waiters, dreaming of ancient wonders and exotic poetry, sipping fine wines and rejoicing in the feel of silk on skin. Why would I change a word of your stories?"