Miss Manners’ circa 1985

One of Judith Martin’s numerous books on etiquette and good manners, written under the pen name, “Miss Manners”

Judith Martin's writing style is marked by third person, lofty Victorian statement: "We don't want to treat rudeness with more rudeness, now do we," she admonishes readers. She believes her column on etiquette is not just for dowagers and duchesses. She believes it reaches a lot of young adults who grew up at a time when verbal approach to a young lady was little more than "hey you!" 

These young people want to behave well but they aren't always sure how, she said. Martin is a graduate of the proper Wellesley College, and after abortive attempts at two other kinds of columns in the Post, she started the etiquette column in 1978. By 1984 she knew she had a winner when she made the cover of Time magazine. 

Not content with just newspapers, Martin has written "Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior" and "Miss Manners' Guide to Rearing Perfect Children." Both titles have a bit of that haughty tone for which she is famous. Stay tuned. She is scheduled to start a TV show as part of this season's fall lineup.— Wayne Sargent, San Bernardino Sun, September, 1985

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