At 01:49 PM 10/11/2009, Geoffrey Layton wrote:

>In this week’s edition of The New Yorker, there 
>is an article that includes these two quotes 
>about Larry Summers:  “According to a friend of 
>Summers’s, Harvard had wanted . . . ”   and 
>later, “According to [Joe Blow], a former student of Summers’s . . . ”
>
>
>
>Two questions arise from these quotes.  First 
>involves the formation of the possessive with a 
>proper name ending in "s." The writer adds “…’s” 
>to Summers’s name in the possessive case - but 
>shouldn't the possessive be Summers' - or didn't it used to be?
>
>
>
>Second, why is the possessive necessary at 
>all?  Why not “friend of Summers” or “former 
>student of Summers"?  The apostrophe would be 
>necessary if it were, for example, Layton's 
>friend or Layton's student - but shouldn't it be 
>"friend of Layton" not "friend of Layton's"?
>
>
>
>The New Yorker has always been kind of the God 
>of Grammar, Usage and Mechanics.  Are they slipping, or am I?
>
>
>Geoff Layton
>
>
>
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