Genial grammarian loves NNY

You might know him just as the Word Guy columnist, but Robert S. Kyff is kind of a north country neighbor.

Mr. Kyff has been writing his Word Guy column since September 1992. It was syndicated in late 1995.

His columns about grammar, word usage and word origins appear weekly in the Watertown Daily Times's Sunday Weekly section, but that's not the West Hartford, Conn., writer's only link to New York.

"I grew up in Armonk, New York, and was a friend of Dave Barry's," said Mr. Kyff, referring to the humor writer whose column also appears every Sunday in the Times. "He was just as funny as a boy."

Mr. Kyff is well-acquainted with the north country.

"As a child, my parents would take me to the Adirondacks, the Lake George area, and I really loved it up there," he said.

The Word Guy, who teaches English and history at Kingswood-Oxford Private Day School in West Hartford, said he began his career as a word expert when the Hartford Courant stopped publishing the columns of a longtime grammar writer that he had enjoyed.

"I've always been fascinated with words, particularly the origins of words," he said.

Mr. Kyff has written two books about grammar, "Word Up!" and "Once Upon a Word," the former based on his columns.

"Every column I write, no matter what the subject, I learn something new," he said, adding that he receives many ideas for the columns from readers. "It's like being paid to get an education. It never ceases to amaze me how many interesting aspects of words there are."

Mr. Kyff also receives inspiration from his collection of grammar books.

"I really enjoy the research part and I also enjoy trying to take something that is complicated and making it understandable for readers," he said.

In 2004, a year after his second book was published, Mr. Kyff began exploring the Adirondacks again. He eventually stumbled across Drain Pond, a 13-cottage waterfront community near Owls Head, an hour north of Saranac Lake.

"It had a lot of charm, and I just fell in love with it," said Mr. Kyff. Since then, he has bought a cabin on Drain Pond and now spends approximately four weeks each summer in the Adirondacks.

Mr. Kyff said he typically reads the Watertown Daily Times while he is in the north country and gets a kick out of seeing his column in it.

"It's kind of fun to see my two worlds colliding," he said with a laugh. "I love the north country. The people on the lake are so friendly and so warm. I enjoy the solitude, and I've never seen the stars as clearly and as bright as you do up there."

Although Drain Pond is five and a half hours from his West Hartford residence, Mr. Kyff doesn't seem to mind the drive. "You feel the stress of your life leave and you get into the High Peaks and it feels like you're leaving the whole stressful world behind," he said.

As for Northern New York grammar, Mr. Kyff said that he doesn't know of any particular grammatical idiosyncrasies inherent to native residents, with the possible exception of calling a cottage a "camp."

"Some people have Canadian accents," he added as an afterthought.

The region has served him well, he said.

"Everyone has been very welcoming," he said. "It's a place where I can relax, and actually it's a great place to write a column."