The person who answered sayed "hold on" and transferred me, and the next person who answered said gruffly, "Norm Goldstein."

Goldstein was the Editor of the AP Stylebook for almost 30 years - from 1979 to 2007. I was a little surprised to get the publishing-style legend himself on the phone.

When I told him about the conflict I'd spotted he said something like "ah ... dammit!" Then he grumbled "just use a space," and hung up.

In the next edition, the conflict was corrected. Ever since, the AP Stylebook has consistently said to use a space.

 Reply