Contributor Biographies #3

These biographies are shown in the order in which they were received. Use Previous and Next at the top and bottom of each page to move through them, or pick a name from the list of all biographies.

B.H. Bentzman

Born in the Bronx, I have been orbiting the Sun since 1951. I grew up, but very slowly, mostly in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I was an average student whose academic education petered out about midway through college. Although I endured lots of jobs in my youth, since 1979 I have supported this writing habit and other pleasures by working for AT&T as a Communications Technician. I am presently enjoying a successful second marriage, and this time it was a package deal that included two kids, now grown. I am a practicing Peripatetic Minister of Secular Humanism. A product of a white, middle-class, suburbia, I have managed to live a quiet, undistinguished life of relative comfort, peace, and more happiness than I probably deserve. My dull and ordinary life is the subject of my monthly column, "Suburban Soliloquy", which has been appearing every month in the Snakeskin Poetry Webzine since January of 1998.

My short stories, poems, and essays, have been published throughout the World Wide Web, such places as The Alsop Review, The Blue Moon Review, and The Morpo Review. My book, ~The Short Stories of B.H. Bentzman~ can be ordered at Amazon.com or through your local independent book dealer.

Bob Helfrich

Howdy,

I have used fountain pens since the third grade in public school. While ball points had been invented, they were more prone to leak, smear, and quit working than fountain pens. Ball point ink, in this era, was simply printer's ink in a thin metal tube.

Although I've always had one or two pens around, usually Vectors and Varsities, I didn't take the plunge into the collecting addiction until a gift from my wife of a Namiki VP four or five years ago. (Not only did she hook me, but she also got one for our then 24 year old son and turned him into an addict. She is immune.) It took months for the addiction to impel me to get a second Namiki, then a Sheaffer Targa, then an Opera, and on and on and on.

I am presently the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church on Main Street (folks were very creative with the names) of a central NJ town. With a BS in Biology, Masters of Divinity ( that delicious confectionery), and a Doctorate in Ministry ( Spiritual Development of Adolescents) I am educated far beyond my capabilities in a field whose salary structure resembles that of Parking Lot Attendants. I've done a bit of everything from running an offset press to executive producing Video tapes.

While the majority of my collection is in modern pens, my interest is more in Vintage Pens and collecting different filling technologies. I have about 2 dozen different types of fillers, the Hatchet filler and Click filler perhaps the most esoteric. There are still that number or more fillers left to complete a collection. (Actually it is an impossible task as some pen filler types no longer exist and others are privately held.)

I am one of the original SnaiList folks, I think. For correspondence I usually use very flexible vintage nibs fueled with ink colors which I occasionally can't comprehend what made me get them in the first place; Ultramarine, Fucsia, Resada, . . .

I take many things seriously, but very little solemnly. If one can't laugh at one's self, then one is unaware of what amuses the rest of the world. I am grey, fat and 54 come Winter Solstice. I prefer not to celebrate birthdays with Druids. I am prejudiced against bigots and racists. Superstitious people tend to make me nervous. The Bumper sticker most likely to be on my car would be "Honk If You Love Cheeses" or "Nuke The Whales."

Myra Love (MY)

I am the woman who walks around Boston with fountain pens sticking out of every pocket and bag. I was born at the end of 1948 in Philadelphia and became fascinated with fountain pens in 1956 when my father wouldn't let me play with his Parker 51. We weren't allowed to use fountain pens in grade school, so I started using the inexpensive, transparent Sheaffer cartridge pens in junior high school, moved on to a Parker 45 in college, and never turned back. However, I've only gathered enough pens to keep several in every room of my house in the past couple of years. I never did get to play with my father's pen; it disappeared after his death in 1963.

I am a writer of fiction, sometime tutor and teacher of adults trying to learn English, aspiring singer (of mostly classical music). I taught college for a while, using my Ph.D. in German language and literature to earn a semi-honest living. I am a student of the history of religion, alternative healing modalities, and a general, all-around collector of useless information.

Barry Dean Milligan

I'm Barry Dean Milligan, a 33 year old judicial clerk from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I graduated last spring from Louisiana State University Law School. I discovered fountain pens when I set out to learn calligraphy about 10 years ago. The insatiable desire to acquire is a recent, but powerful phenomenon in my life.

My mind is, and has always been, like an untrained Labrador, running hither and yon enthusiastically, but not fetching many sticks, if you know what I mean.

One of the reasons that I think I like this pen-crowd so much is that I lack much daily contact with people who, like myself, are passionate and intensely interested in the things that they love. Also, I enjoy learning from the more-knowledgeable, as well as the patience and helpfulness with which they instruct.

Some of my interests other than fountain pens are: chess (an abominable game that ate several years of my life, and still threatens random days and weeks on occasion) tennis (on a good day I might be able to beat my mother) (but my mother is pretty good) reading (which I do in frenzied binges) movies (I really dig movies) and airplane crashes (a macabre obsession of mine, don't know what I think about it sometimes) I also have free-floating interests that crop up chronically. I'll spare you.

I'm more of a user than a collector of fountain pens, although they are beginning to add up. Maybe after I have a few dozen more, I'll start to see a pattern to my "collection." In the meantime, I have many new worlds to explore, like vintage, flexible nibs, and the like. Hanging out with these guys hips you to desires you never knew you had.

Andrew J.Gnoza, III

My name is Andrew J. Gnoza, III ( aka Polish Sumgai ) and currently reside on the Gulf of Mexico in a small town in Alabama - 500 yards west of Pensacola, Florida. I retired from the US Government in 1995 after 25 years as a criminal investigator / bomb disposal technician ( yes I do have all 10 fingers ). I buy and sell just about anything pen related that is associated with Esterbrooks!