A man who campaigned for better use of the apostrophe has quit his decades-long battle. John Richards, 96, started the Apostrophe Protection Society in 2001. He wrote: "Fewer organisations and individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in English. We have done our best, but the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won." He said many people supported him, "but the barbarians have won".
Mr Richards started the society after seeing the "same mistakes over and over again". He hoped some people would join him, but he received support and letters from all over the world. His biggest beef was people not using the apostrophe at all. He criticised big companies for this. In the UK, Lloyds Bank stopped using the apostrophe in its name. Mr Richards may be happy with the burger chain McDonald's but not with Starbucks.