Maureen Corrigan on the Semicolon

Behold the power of a punctuation mark:

"The semicolon is my psychological metaphor, my mascot. It’s the punctuation mark that qualifies, hesitates, and ties together ideas and parts of a life that shoot off in different directions. I think my reliance on the semicolon signifies that I want to hold onto my background – honestly, without sentimentality or embarrassment – and yet, also transcend it. I come from, and still partly reside in, a world where most people, including my own parents, didn’t, and still don’t, read or hear what I have to say about books because they are oblivious to NPR, The New York Times, and all the other educated middle- and upper-class outlets where popular conversations about culture and literature take place."

From Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books, by Maureen Corrigan