Debbie le May
Editor of Quest
Debbie has been a freelance journalist for nearly twenty years and has edited Quest, the journal of the Society, for more than twelve years. Despite having an interest in politics, she does her best to ensure that Quest is apolitical in line with the Society’s charitable status, although contentious issues surrounding the English language are sometimes included in the journal. She welcomes communication from Society members, and indeed from anyone in the world at large, on any aspect of the English language.
Susan (Kitt) McKenna
Committee member
Susan McKenna has a background in teaching English and French, sales, marketing, business development and management. She was Sales & Marketing Director with prestigious companies supplying consumer goods to retail in the UK and abroad from 2001 to 2016, then owner of her own consulting company.
Language has always been of paramount importance and delectation to her, both personally and professionally, not only in its rigour but also in its flexibility and infinite variety.
Susan describes herself as 'a purist-iconoclast'.
Michael Gorman
Secretary
After a degree in physics Michael made a career on the technical side of the computer industry. Within that career he had to write many documents, and to advise junior engineers on their documents.
Mathematics is traditionally divided into pure maths and applied maths. Michael’s writing has been a case of applied English. He is interested in language, and in the attempts by computers to handle human languages.
He assisted in the production of the Society's books Shakin' The Ketchup Bot'le and the QES Golden Jubilee Book. He has been a member of the Society since 1989.
The Society's name: The King's English Society
'The King’s English’ or ‘The Queen’s English’ is a colloquial term that, in common parlance, denotes ‘standard’ or ‘correct’ English; its use is metaphorical, not signifying any literal proprietorship by the monarch. Indeed, the English actually used by the monarch in speech has been commonly heard over our airwaves for less than a century.
Our Society was formed during the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II and named The Queen’s English Society to echo its purpose in upholding the standards that the Queen’s English was held to represent.
In 2021 the possibility was put to the members of the Queen’s English Society that the Society’s name might change upon the sad event of her death, and a resolution was passed by a majority of 96% of voting members to retain the name with which the society had been formed. At the Society’s AGM in September 2022, after the Queen’s death, that decision was upheld as a mark of respect, although it was always open for reconsideration in future.
At the Annual General Meeting on 24 September 2024, a Resolution to change the name to The King's English Society was carried by 75 votes to 7.