Richard Mitchell is a name carried by several notable Americans, and a search for it usually lands on one of five people: the late English and classics professor who published The Underground Grammarian, a former Florida state senator, an Iowa Supreme Court justice who later chaired the Interstate Commerce Commission, a Seattle attorney who served as chief counsel to a Washington governor, and two unrelated federal criminal defendants whose cases sometimes surface alongside the public figures. The sections below sort them out.
The Underground Grammarian
The most widely recognized Richard Mitchell (1929–2002) was a professor of English and Classics at Glassboro State College, later renamed Rowan University, where he taught from 1963 until his death. He was born in Brooklyn, raised in Scarsdale, New York, and educated at the University of Chicago and the University of the South, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He completed a Ph.D. in classical and Western literature at Syracuse University.1Quillette. How the Underground Grammarian Taught Me To Tell Reason From Rubbish Before Glassboro, he taught briefly at Defiance, Ohio.
The Newsletter
In January 1977, Mitchell began printing a monthly newsletter called The Underground Grammarian in his basement, hand-setting the type on a 70-year-old Chandler & Price press. Its stated mission was to “expose and even ridicule examples of jargon, faulty syntax, redundancy, needless neologism, and any other kind of outrage against English,” with most of its material drawn from the memos, course descriptions, and official communications produced by his own college’s administration and faculty.2The New York Times. A Professor Goes Underground in Grammar War He initially published anonymously, identifying himself only as “R. Mitchell, Assistant Circulation Manager.” The newsletter ran for fifteen years, through 1991, eventually moving from handset type to desktop publishing on a Macintosh.1Quillette. How the Underground Grammarian Taught Me To Tell Reason From Rubbish
Its guiding line, repeated throughout his career, was that “clear language engenders clear thought, and clear thought is the most important benefit of education.” The newsletter accepted no letters to the editor and offered no space for opposing viewpoints.1Quillette. How the Underground Grammarian Taught Me To Tell Reason From Rubbish
Books and Ideas
Mitchell turned the newsletter’s themes into four books. Less Than Words Can Say (1979), which he called “a melancholy meditation on the dismal consequences of the new illiteracy,” argued that sloppy language disorders thought and warned against the creeping power of administrative jargon. The Graves of Academe (1981) criticized government-approved teacher-training programs for producing instructors versed in education theory but lacking real subject-matter expertise. The Leaning Tower of Babel collected essays from the newsletter. The Gift of Fire (1987) examined the nature of genuine education, holding up Socrates, Epictetus, and Jesus as models and arguing that “true education is not knowing about, it is knowing.”1Quillette. How the Underground Grammarian Taught Me To Tell Reason From Rubbish3Rowan University. Rowan University To Hold Memorial Service for Dr. Richard Mitchell
A persistent thread in his writing was his suspicion that bureaucratic rhetoric functioned as what he called “the worm in the brain,” a tool that paralyzes critical thinking and helps institutions maintain control over a compliant population. He contended that government-run schools were structurally incentivized to produce citizens who were easier to manage rather than harder to fool.4Foundation for Economic Education. The Graves of Academe by Richard Mitchell Columnist George F. Will said, “A cleansing fire leaps from the writings of Richard Mitchell.”5SourceText.com. The Underground Grammarian
Mitchell died on December 27, 2002, at his home in Pitman, New Jersey, survived by his wife, Francis, four daughters, and five grandchildren. Rowan University held a memorial service on February 19, 2003.3Rowan University. Rowan University To Hold Memorial Service for Dr. Richard Mitchell The complete newsletters, Volumes 1 through 15, remain freely available online, consistent with Mitchell’s own insistence that anyone could copy and circulate his work.5SourceText.com. The Underground Grammarian
The Florida State Senator
Another Richard Mitchell is a Florida Democrat who served in the state Senate from 1998 to 2002, representing a rural North Florida district. Raised in a farm family outside Jasper, he graduated from Hamilton High School and earned a double major in English and speech communications at Florida State University. Before entering politics, he flew jets for the U.S. Navy for seven years, completed aviation officer candidate school, and spent thirteen years in the Naval Reserves, reaching the rank of commander.6Gainesville Sun. Mitchell Plans To Put People First
He also ran a family farm near Jasper, owned several Subway restaurant franchises in South Georgia and Florida, and in 1995 became executive director of Comprehensive Community Service, an organization serving residents with disabilities in six North Florida counties. He said he ran for the Senate in 1998 because “this state fails to focus on the needs of people,” pointing to inadequate spending on education and health care.6Gainesville Sun. Mitchell Plans To Put People First In the Senate he served as vice chair of the Children and Families Committee and sat on the Education, Natural Resources, Appropriations, and Governmental Oversight committees, among others. Bills he sponsored that became law included a military-dependent education benefit, a Parents’ and Children’s Day designation, and a measure concerning the death penalty and defendants with mental retardation.7Florida Senate. Senator Richard Mitchell, District 4
The Iowa Supreme Court Justice
Richard F. Mitchell (1889–1969) served on the Iowa Supreme Court from December 6, 1932, through December 31, 1942, after being elected to complete the unexpired term of Justice John M. Grimm. He served one year as Chief Justice during that decade on the bench.8Iowa Courts. Richard F. Mitchell
After leaving the court, he worked for Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman as a labor mediator during World War II. He was approved as a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1947 and rose to chairman in 1954, retiring in 1959.8Iowa Courts. Richard F. Mitchell
The Seattle Attorney
A fourth Richard Mitchell is a Seattle-based attorney who has held several prominent civic and legal positions in Washington State. He served as chief counsel (staff counsel) to Governor Christine Gregoire, an appointment announced on January 26, 2005, advising the governor on policy, ethical questions, judicial selection, legislation, executive orders, and defense of the governor’s constitutional prerogatives.9Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Washington Governor Appoints Richard Mitchell as Staff Counsel
Before joining the governor’s office, he was a trial attorney with experience in construction, real estate development, and litigation, including work on the London Docklands project, and is also trained as an architect and urban planner. He served as president of the Loren Miller Bar Association, an organization representing African-American lawyers, as first vice president of the King County Bar Association, and as a regent of Seattle University. In 2011, describing his politics as “fiscally conservative and socially progressive,” he ran for the Metropolitan King County Council as a Democrat and received an endorsement from The Seattle Times.10The Seattle Times. Richard Mitchell for Metropolitan King County Council
Federal Criminal Cases Involving the Name
Two unrelated federal defendants share the name and should not be confused with the public figures above.
Richard M. Mitchell (Wildlife Smuggling)
Richard M. Mitchell, an employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was indicted in June 1992 on nine counts related to helping big-game hunters and smuggling horns and hides of illegally hunted Punjab Urial and Chinkara Gazelle into the United States. In May 1993, a jury convicted him of smuggling animal skins into the country but acquitted him of misusing his federal job for personal financial gain. A Washington Post correction later noted that the animal skins were not from protected species, contrary to initial reporting.11The Washington Post. Scientist Convicted of Smuggling The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the felony conviction on November 3, 1994, under the federal smuggling statute, 18 U.S.C. § 545.12UNODC. US v Mitchell
Richard David Mitchell (Sex Tourism)
Richard David Mitchell, a 61-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested by Cambodian National Police in August 2008 in connection with sex acts involving a child in Phnom Penh. He was deported from Cambodia, and a federal criminal complaint was filed in the District of Hawaii on August 26, 2009. He was arraigned on September 8, 2009, on charges of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country, an offense carrying up to 30 years in prison, and was held without bond.13U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. Citizen Arraigned on Charges of International Sex Tourism He pleaded guilty in November 2009. On February 22, 2010, U.S. District Judge David Ezra sentenced him to three years and ten months in prison, followed by lifetime court supervision.14Honolulu Advertiser. Man Sentenced in Federal Sex Tourism Case