Everyone has to develop his own "voice" when writing. The thing BJ and SS both could do is write, and they could turn on their respective voices, or turn them off. They also could exaggerate them as the situation required, and that was what made Mark Twain so popular. Twain, a seasoned editor, knew how to gain an audience's ear.
I remember a short column he wrote, which would be lost to today's audiences, of the uniqueness of a one-sided conversation over what was then a new technological marvel, the telephone. Most of us, today, wouldn't see the humor in it because we're so used to hearing people on the phone; but back then it was hilarioius! To hear a person speak and react to something the readers couldn't hear. (For those of you interested,
you can find the column here. I goggled it.)
Most people would have found the Mama Mia column also highly amusing, but shooters will find it even more so due to Skeet's inability to sight in his gun or to shoot the squirrel. A modern editor might say, well, we can't run those articles again because he's talking about guns that no longer are made. And that's true. It's also a reason I stopped subscribing to gun magazines. Just because a gun's out of production doesn't mean you can't write an article about it or show photos of it. This is a mindset that is brought about by the crass commercialism of the market. Magazines don't cater to the reader, the editorial staff is there to rake in the advertising bucks, and gun companies, holster makers, ammunition manufacturers and the like all want article on their products. I dare say a lot of folks would love to find articles about the old S&W K-22, the Ruger Security-Six, Dan Wesson's Pistol Pacs, etc. I also get tired of going to the bookstore and going to the magazine rack, only to find the latest plastic gun or snazzy automatic pistol adorning the cover. After awhile they all start to look the same. (In fact, I have to admit there are times when I have unknowingly bought two copies of the same issue of COMBAT HANDGUNS. In the old days I could look at the cover and say, oh, I have that one. But today last issue's cover looks the same as this issue's cover.
But that's another thread. I'd like to see these articles reprinted. If I were a little younger, I'd probably start my own magazine.