The New York Times reports today on the death of Eugene Ehrlich at age 85. Ehrlich popularized esoteric etymological knowledge, writing forty dictionaries, thesauruses, and phrase books, including The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate.

But what impressed me the most was that his obituary (and he) ended this way:

Some family members were so used to Mr. Ehrlich’s habit of correcting grammar that some studied up before visiting him. On his deathbed, Mr. Ehrlich heard somebody ask, “To who?”

“To whom,” he said, with a weak voice and great authority.

Way to go!

(So to speak.)