was it a really nice fruit basket with fancy fruits like mangoes and starfruit or was it the old apples, organges, and banana-variety? And despite your intent, was it injurious after all? Did you get a thank you note? On what stationery?

I’m not gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe!

I wonder if Susan read the article since it’s hard for me to imagine anyone thinking I was suggesting that Ed’s act was evil. The phrase itself (insult to injury) was meant to be humorous–and most people understood that. My kicker reiterrated that idea. In other words, Ed’s sending Grossman the fruit basket was a masterful way of turning Grossman’s criticism on its head. Of course there was nothing injurious or evil or even serious about it. Rather, it was funny. Of course the Time people apparently didn’t share this impression since they refused to accept the fruit basket at first, but that’s their problem. Over thirty years of writing this kind of thing, I’ve learned to be tolerant of people misunderstanding what I write, but this surprised me.