When we are very young, we tend to regard the ability to use a colon much as a budding pianist regards the ability to play with crossed hands: many of us, when we are older, regard it as a proof of literary skill, maturity, even of sophistication; and many; whether young, not so young, or old, employ it gauchely, haphazardly, or at best inconsistently.
You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies (ed. Routledge, 2003) - ISBN: 9781134942244