Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

Incredibly, the other day the New York Times included a story on this “major” political issue – the use of apostrophes.

Yes, the use of apostrophes!

It is an issue that occupies the minds of some folks in this country who focus on grammar and the proper use of punctuation marks.

As a writer for the New York Times put it:  “With Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on the Democrat presidential political tickets, these apostrophe buffs were doing head spins.”

The story appeared under this headline:

“Is It Harris’ or Harris’s?  Add a Walz, and It’s Even Trickier.”

With wars and rumors of wars on every hand, not to mention a divisive presidential campaign in the United States, apostrophes, for more people, don’t make the list of important issues.

For the grammar geeks, they do.

So, the question is where are voters and journalists supposed to place the possessive squiggle?

The options:

• Harris’
• Harris’s
• Walz’
• Walz’s

More from the NY Times:

“It all felt a bit like apostrophe hell:  Would it be Ms. Harris’s and Mr. Walz’s or Ms. Harris’ and Mr. Walz’s?  The Harrises and the Walzes?  The Harrises’ family home and the Walzes’ family dog?  It was enough to see double, made worse by the fact that stylebooks, large news organizations, and grammar geeks were all split or contradicted one another.

“’Anyone who tells you there are universal rules to how to add an apostrophe ending in S is either wrong or lying,’ Jeffrey Barg, a grammar columnist, said.  ‘You can’t be wrong as long as you’re consistent.’”

“The Associated Press Stylebook, widely considered to be the gold standard among news organizations, is clear on its rule for the possessive of singular proper names ending in ‘s’ — only an apostrophe is needed (Harris’), though there are always exceptions.  The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal all do the opposite, opting for ’s to mark a singular possessive and a simple apostrophe for plural possessive (Harrises’ and Walzes’).”

Now, with all that, I add:  Who cares?

There actually is a person who does — Bob McCalden, who leads the Apostrophe Protection Society in the United Kingdom.  Who knew there was such a group?

According to the NY Times, McCalden says this:

“’The challenge I would put to anyone that said, no, the possessive of Harris is just with an apostrophe, is how do you say that?  By using only an apostrophe and not including an extra S, the name doesn’t flow properly.’”

Plus, the discourse comes at a pivotal time for apostrophes:  Thursday, August 15, is International Apostrophe Day.

So, mark your calendar!