Zanzibar and his Zany Crew of Sentence Constructors

About the Book

From the Intergalactic Space Station, Ali peered through the orbit meter set on Alexandria, Egypt around 2,000 years ago and began to sweat. Seeing the orange flames soaring higher and higher, he imagined the sound of crackling as the precious old parchments vanished. At hand was the very destruction of recorded knowledge! “King Alexander the Great did not have this Library built to lose it now!”, he explained to the city fathers. He went on to suggest, “What we know, once in the now burned books, must be written again creating books both new and old. We must find Zanzibar and his Zany Crew. My glimpse through the orbit meter/time machine reveals a future wherein the diffusion of the English language is as widespread as a fresh carpet of winter snow.” “Hurray!”, they shouted, “if many know English and we write so, the sentences, both new and old, may comprehensively grow!” This is a story recounted in a fanciful way using the true incident of the burning of the famous Library of Alexandria, Egypt, including its contents, more than two thousand years ago as a context. Joyfully in 2002, on the Egyptian coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the inauguration of the new Library of Alexandria was celebrated. The requirement of the Library to make available many texts, both new and old, is used in this book as a context for sharing the mechanics of English sentence construction. Join us as Zanzibar, appointed by the city leaders, finds the crew needed to construct and reconstruct the books, both new and old, of the ancient Library of Alexandria.

About the Author

Linda Smith Masi

The author’s life with her husband and children at home in the USA, and later abroad in Europe and Asia have contributed to creating a unique perspective for this book. Also contributing to the viewpoint in the writing of this story is the influence of having lived near NASA in Houston, Texas with a family involved in the Space Program. Born in Dallas, Texas; Linda Smith Masi, the author, has an Honors degree from the University of Texas. at Austin. She is a CPA, has training as an ISO 9000 Lead Auditor and is currently the president of Continuous Clear Communications (CCC), an entity providing editing and training in both oral and written English.

She served as the Chair of the International and the Health Care Committees of the Texas Society of CPAs in Houston. Mrs. Masi has written operational/financial manuals, implementing them by training the staff of international companies and hospitals. Her activity as a CPA also includes development of internal auditing programs and training/staff implementation. In 1983 until 1986 she created and operated an import/wholesale distribution business of gift items wholesaling the products in the USA. Currently she is an English lecturer/ conversationalist in secondary schools, editor of scholarly documents and collaborator with teachers of English in Italy, where she lives with her husband. Her professional activity focuses on clear, efficient communications using English.