Randy Cohen‘s weekly NY Times Magazine column, entitled “The Ethicist”, was a puzzling amusement to me when I first noticed it reprinted in the Mercury News. It reminded me of Judith Martin’s “Miss Manners” in that it imparted advice firmly rooted in common sense with the sparkle of a witty writing style. I wondered “Who is this guy? How did he get this job?” and sometimes on my grumpy days “Who the heck does he think he is anyway?” But I always find his advice sound and reasonable. I figured he was some university ethics professor. Well, as I found in a Yale Daily News article, he’s not. Cohen has no formal training in ethics. He was a music composition major. And, here’s what really threw me, he spent seven years writing for “Late Night with David Letterman”. He wrote for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show”. Basically, he’s a writer. It makes sense. Many people can tell you what the right thing to do is, and they may indeed be right, but the person that is able to clearly express why it is the right thing to do will win you over. (via MediaNews)