Here's an analogous construction seen in the wild yesterday ( ... you get an American icon, mysterious and troubling and complete. If I understand it properly, the problem isn't the lack of a comma before the "and", but rather

Or consider this example from the FAQ: a book dedication "to my parents, Ayn Rand and God. Wouldn't a comma after "Rand" be useful? Here's an analogous construction seen in the wild yesterday ( Wall Street Journal, p. D12):

I wouldn't use a dash in place of the colon in that sentence. I'm funny that way. Don't colons have more class than dashes? I know Mr Joyce was fond of colons. Dashes, to me, are the ... of nothing better, or am just dashing something

Charles wondered: should the first word after the colon be capitalized, or not? If you're writing for the Associated Press, Newsweek, or most American newspapers, yes; if you're writing for the New Yorker or most academic journals, no

I wouldn't use a dash in place of the colon in that sentence. I'm funny that way. Lower case letter after it, of course. I wouldn't use a dash either: the imperative is too much a "formal" statement, by CMS's lights, but

Not. I should think that depends upon one's style manual, though. I learned in high school that complete sentences *should* be ... (p 184). I consider an imperative a "formal statement" (scare quotes because I'm not certain what

Charles Riggs: I use this sort of punctuation fairly often, Franke. I've often wondered, should the first word after the colon be capitalized, or not? It's not required when what follows is an independent clause, and not correct when what

Charles wondered: should the first word after the colon be capitalized, or not? If you're writing for the Associated Press, Newsweek, or most American newspapers, yes; if you're writing for the New Yorker or most academic journals, no

I agree fully with Stewart Gargis: Don't change the sentence. I use this sort of punctuation fairly often, Franke. I've often wondered, should the first word after the colon be capitalized, or not? Not. Skitt (in Hayward, California)

I'm used to, and that's in M-W online and a few other dictionaries. What type of yahoo would pronounce it that way, I can't help wondering. I was expecting a different comment from you something that mentioned the Midwest specifically.