Byron Hinton, Dominick Langlois, Linda Bergstrom, Willis and Treb
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.
Byron
Hinton
I was born
in 1957 in the Lone Star State about 100 miles north of Mexico.
My family founded our county in about 1856 and has led a ranching
lifestyle ever since. I graduated from the University of Texas
with a BBA in International Trade and an MBA in finance. I was
one of those people who never left Austin after going to school
there. Has this town ever changed. My wife tells me that Sandra
Bullock visited my next door neighbor recently. Of course it
was my luck that I was out of town. I have been a self employed
financial consultant since the early 1980's; with my focus being
on valuation of closely held businesses and investment grade
real estate.
I have had
some intersting experiences over the past ten years as a part
time consultant for The World Bank traveling to Slovenia, Mexico,
Uzbekistan, Russia, and Kenya (I picked up and interesting Parker
pen in Nairobi and a Delta in Mexico City). I have a wonderful
family; wife, son (10) and daughter (5). I also recently was
ordained as a deacon in my church.
As far as
pens go, I started to become interested in college. My first
fancy pen was one of those gold sheaffer ballpoints with intricate
gold filligree on it. My first fountain pen was a shaeffer targa.
Since then I have accumulated about 100 pens, mostly modern
and mostly under $300 each. I think my most dear ones currently
are a Chinese laquer St. Dupont, my Parker 51, and Gold Sheaffer
Targa. I'm also one of the only people who has generally been
very dissappointed with my Pelikan M-1000. I think I have focused
my interest on Japanese and Italian pens (I've yet to get my
coveted Omas Paragon). In general, because I am a big guy I
prefer large, but light pens.
Other hobbies
include vintage and modern wristwatches, antiquarian travel
and exploration books, and antique bladed weapons (I'm an admirer
not a user).
Finally,
I am somewhat of an admirer of Irish culture and life (am Irish
on my maternal side.) Once I had the privilege of visiting Ashford
Castle and the setting of John Wayne's "Quiet Man". It is my
goal to experience life on the Emerald Island sometime in the
future.
Dominick
Langlois
I don't know
why, but this is hard for me. Speaking of myself is not something
I find easy. Perhaps I should speak of myself at the third person,
as if I was dead. Maybe that would make things easier. "He was
a good man. He was a great man. And he loved pens too. Too much
according to his beloved wife".
I live in
a small town very near Montreal, Canada. I am a 29 year old
high school teacher. I'm not married, yet, but I have two "kids":
Sam, my sweet dog and Greco, my... my cat. Apart from pens,
I do love Jazz music (Bill Evans, Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck,
and Diana Krall among others) and I love to read too: Oscar
Wilde and most of the "Generation perdue" writers who lived
in Paris in the 20's are my favorite. I read in English most
of the times in order to keep in touch with it. Indeed, my English
used to be a lot better a couple of years ago, but I don't get
the chance to practice it a lot. So, "pardonnez mon anglais".
As far as
pens are concerned, my collection only includes modern pens.
Indeed, I couldn't say that I'm into vintage pens, even if one
day I came close to buy one of these famed P-51 Len loves so
much. Before I discovered IkonPen and, more recently Pentrace,
I used to be "a freak" who loved pens too much. Indeed, how
many university students write with a fountain pen? Worst, how
many have more than one? However, one day, as I was looking
for "Waterman Serenite" on Alta Vista, I ended up in IkonPen.
Suffice to say that I was hooked. Finally, I could meet people
who love pens too. Now, even if I'm always quite busy (first
year as a teacher), I enjoy coming here at Pentrace and read
your posts.
Linda
Bergstrom
I'm a longtime
wannabe pen geek and a novice collector. Ever since childhood,
it’s always mattered to me what I wrote with -- I still vividly
recall the revelation of writing with my first Parker Jotter
-- but it wasn’t until last winter that I discovered fountain
pens, and pens became a passion.
I have a
handful of quality modern fountain pens (some with companion
RB, BP, &/or pencil), including the gorgeous "Amber Shimmer"
Waterman Carene (M) that's my current purse pen; a black Parker
Sonnet set that lives on my desk at work; a lovely copper Sheaffer
Targa (M); Pelikan M400 (M) and M600 (OB), a fun, flaming-red
Krone (F, with stub on the way), and the breathtakingly beautiful
emerald green Aurora Optima (F) that’s the flagship of my current
collection.
I've also
accumulated an alarmingly large collection of vintage fountain
pens -- most of little or no collector value and virtually all
needing repair, resaccing, etc. -- that I acquired on eBay,
where I'm known as "malnpudl". (Egad! However did I get so many
so fast?) In time I hope to learn how to do my own resaccing
and simple repairs. I've also got a very modest but satisfying
start toward a collection of vintage mechanical pencils (several
of which actually work).
Recently
at the OH Pen Show I bought my first restored vintage pens --
a pretty green Vacumatic Sub-Deb (F); a red & gray striped
Duofold with a stub nib (zowie!); a Vac-filled Parker 51 with
an italic nib (thank you, Susan Wirth!); and a lovely moss agate
Lady Patrician FP & pencil set that was too beautiful to
pass up. I’ve now got an incurable case of Vintage Fever.
I pay for
my collecting vice by working on the customer support hotline
for a major software vendor. My husband Tyronne is another pen
fan and fellow "technoid"; he and I are both in our early 40's.
We live in the San Francisco bay area with Corey, our geriatric
Belgian Malinois. When I'm not working, 'Net surfing, or pursuing
my passion for pens, I enjoy reading, gardening, and backyard
bird watching.
Willis
I am a 46
yr old father of 2 boys aged 13 and 7, with a wonderful, understanding
wife, who humors me on the subject of pens. We live in a northern
suburb of Dallas, where the land is flat, and the sky full of
planes. I used fountain pans in high school in upstate New York
and never touched one again until this January when a vendor
in Europe (I am chief Engineer for a fortune 500 food company)
gave me a giveaway fountain pen from an unknown manufacturer.
The pen wrote so well that i rekindled my interest in fountain
pens. I now have a Sheaffer Prelude, Waterman Phileas, Waterman
Carene, Waterman Laureat, and, as a departure, a Pelican R200
rollerball. I understand that this addiction is ultimately fatal
(at least everyone afflicted with it ultimately passes on to
pen heaven). Is there a cure?
Treb
"Cut him
and he'll bleed ink" and "he's got ink in his blood" were two
once common expressions for dyed-in-the wool newspapermen, and
I probably fit that expression. In one way or another I've been
working for newspapers or at newspapers most of my adult life.
I've probably
held every job a newspaper has to offer, save for paperboy and
publisher. In my current incarnation I have the title of consultant;
my actual work is difficult to explain. Basically I work with
newspaper management to fine tune work processes while identifying
(and fixing) systems issues.
My fatal
romance with newspapers is probably as old as my fascination
with pens, ink and printing and publishing in general. My first
"serious" pens were an odd assortment of Rapidiographs, Osmiroids
and Pelikans. By the late 70s I'd graduated to a couple of MBs,
any number of dip pens and a couple Sheaffers, which still remain
my favorites. All but a two of those are gone. Who knows where
they went!
As interests
go, I'm decently versed in the broad area of philology, with
some specialty in medieval literature and continental romanticism.
There are probably few subjects I don't dabble in. I'm a (now)
retired professional photographer, musician emeritus, and a
(mostly) retired writer. The beauty is I now write when I want
to, photograph what pleases me to and play what makes me happy
to play!
