Remembering Walter Jinotti

My fall allergies made me think of the person who always alerted newspapers to the pollen count around this time. At present, a sneezing person is easily confused with someone spreading the H1N1 virus when maybe the cause is just ragweed. I didn't remember the name, but a Google search turned up an obit for Walter Jinotti, whose pronouncements on pollen counts were in the newspapers daily in heavy pollen seasons.

He died in 2001, according to this New York Times obituary, which also reveals he was a Plainfielder.

I wonder what he would think of the current sneeze-in-your-elbow craze.

If something is tickling your beezer,
It's ragweed most likely the teaser.
I'm sure that Jinotti
Would think us all dotty,
To ostracize every last sneezer.

--Bernice