Mark R. Dunn

The country of Nollop lives in homage to deceased (and fictional) Nevin Nollop, originator of the pangram, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” There’s even a memorial in stone tiles that spell out the pangram. But homage has morphed into deification, and when the tiles start falling and shattering, government leaders implement what they believe to be Nollop’s post-mortem command: ban each fallen letter from use, with swift and severe penalties to anyone who violates the ban.

Originally published in 2001, I was struck by how relevant to today are its threats of censorship, authoritarianism and political veneration. The story itself is clever, fun, a bit thin.… (mere)