Who or that?

[Isildae]

I've done some research and generally it would seem that 'who' is preferred when referring to humans and 'that' to animals and inanimate objects but there are no strict rules and 'that' can be used for humans. I was just wondering if other authors had noticed if CC had a preference? The following sentence gave me a bit of grief (no pun intended):

...go to remember the person who died...

Initially I wanted to write 'the person that died' but the 'rule' would challenge this. What do you think?

[Ed]

I have a preference. WHO for humans!

When people use THAT for humans, I am one of those pedants who silently corrects them in my head.

Ed

[cbhrbooth]

[quote]When people use THAT for humans, I am one of those pedants who silently corrects them in my head.[/quote]

Me, too! Although sometimes I'm not silent -- just ask my children. . .

Mary B.

[Ed]

Oh, I bet they love that.

[abraidwood]

You mean them kids that she corrects sometimes?

[Isildae]

[quote="Ed"]I have a preference. WHO for humans!

When people use THAT for humans, I am one of those pedants who silently corrects them in my head.

Ed[/quote]

Thankyou! I also prefer that rule but I was confused in this case because the person being referred to was deceased. I ended up going with 'who' because it seemed more respectful.