Jerry Baker Passes Away at 80

There's a lot of reasons you'd know the name Jerry Baker.

(His name was Gerald, but he went by Jerry).

The Cedar Falls man was a math teacher and later a substitute teacher at schools in the Cedar Valley, he worked at Chamberlains in Waterloo and ran for elected offices several times.

Baker passed away on Jan. 4 at NewAldaya Lifescapes in Cedar Falls. He was 80. He was born August 8, 1932, in rural Cresco.

Newspaper junkies might remember Baker from the editorial pages.

Baker wrote 'letter's to the editor' on everything from annoying political ads to euthanasia and the draft. One of his regular topics was proper grammar. He was frequent contributor to an old Gazette column called, "Write Right."

He'd offer corrections of "Badmouthing, not poormouthing," proper use of "bully pulpit," and my personal curse, homonyms.

Here's a snippet from one of Carl Kane's columns from August 30, 1996.

An intriguing trio of misused words was spotted by Gerald Baker of Cedar Falls. One word is close, but no cigar. Another indicates minimal religious training. The third illustrates official hyperbole.

No cigar: Scientists suspect fertilizer runoff along the Mississippi River may account for a "dead zone," an oxygen-depleted area in the Gulf of Mexico. A spokesman for the Iowa Corn Growers Association countered, "It doesn't jive. It doesn't add up."

Hey, man, we're not jiving here. Jive is to improvise in the style of Ella Fitzgerald. Jive also means talk nonsense, cajole or mislead. Verb should have been jibe, which means "doesn't add up." ( Jive sidelight: The Miami Herald saluted Ella Fitzgerald with this headline on her obituary: "O, the Lady Was Good.")

Rest in Peace, Jerry. The editorial pages (and many others) will miss you.

Memorial services have not been announced. His body has been deeded to the University of Iowa Deeded Body Program.

Condolences may be left at www.richardsonfuneralservice.com.