Email might be the best form of writing

Veteran Charlotte Observer columnist/sports writer Tom Sorensen said recently that he thinks email is the best form of writing. His reasoning: email is terse, to the point and clear. There's no mistaking what most of us mean when we put our thoughts in writing in an email.

Sorensen knows a bit about writing.

He's an award-winning journalist (many, many awards) for the Observer, where he's worked for the past 25 years (20 of those writing about sports.) He's interviewed the likes of Steve Smith, Cam Newton, Jake Delhomme, Larry Johnson, Dale Curry and Mugsy Bogues. (Remember those magical years of the Charlotte Hornets?!)

Frank Barrows, former managing editor of the Charlotte Observer and currently president of the Charlotte Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, says Tom is the best sports writer in North Carolina.

The man who's written hundreds of thousands of words about the Hornets, Bobcats and Panthers is also a cancer survivor.

I'll never forget that a few years ago the Winthrop chapter of SPJ invited Sorensen, a native Minnesotan, to come be our guest speaker at Winthrop. The sportswriter was too weak to come to Rock Hill but he met us for dinner (half way between Charlotte and Rock Hill) at Shoneys. He had just gotten off a jet from Phoenix, where the Panthers played an NFL game.

Today, judging from his appearance last week at a Charlotte Pro SPJ chapter event, the accomplished journalist seems much stronger.

We at Winthrop wish him the very best. And we'll keep in mind what he said about email.