Kay Rosen contributes an introductory essay in which she writes that "In the 1970's, I had made the transition from an academic approach to languages to a visual one because to me the most interesting things about language were not what was included in its formal rules, but rather what I stumbled upon accidentally...These most mundane and undervalued bits of speech were distinguished not only by their rejection of normal doctrine, but also by their potential to convey meaning non-linguistically. They needed to be expressed visually to be realized." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.