Kenn Goodrow II, Anna Lawson, Jason Chang, Karmann Goff and Donal Higgins
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Kenn
Goodrow II
Hello fellow
pen-lovers. I am Kenn Goodrow II. I pack a Parker Sonnet,
gold laquer, 18k nib with black parker ink, although I tend
to have a passion/obsession for rich brown inks. I am approximately
30, feel myself to be closer to 58, and I have a cute young
blonde wife of Franco-Potowatami descent who has beautiful
silver-blue-green eyes (I'd like that color ink, too.) and
who has given her good looks to our daughter. My trade has
shifted all around the mental health/counseling field. By
training and license, I am masters-level psychotherapist,
but have numerous other letters behind my name (and thank
God they are "behind" me). I have been a therapist for every
age group and just about every modality from play therapy
to hypnosis, family therapy, group, etc. I've directed university
departments and have taught a a few universities -- psychology
classes, course on working with difficult youth (my specialty),
and I've taught Zen practice/meditation. Presently, I direct
a hospital social work department and do just about everything
the doctors don't do (complementarily, that is). I am looking
into law school and plan a move to the east coast for the
same and to live -- or, rather, LIVE -- on the coast. I love
the sun, beach, sand in my toes, and the culture of Southern
Cal. I'm sure it loves me, too.
My pen
passion began when I was much younger and was "plundering"
(that's what my hick Arkansas grandmother, God rest her soul,
would have called it) my dad's old office supplies from his
college days and came accross a Koh-i-nor or two. He had a
lot of pen and ink nibs for dipping. I struggled to use his
wares but finally got my own pens once I went to college.
Parkers have always been my mainstay. As a lefty who has problems
with ink-flow in the usual cheapo pens, I have absolutely
loved the fountains from Parker and my Sonnet is beautiful
and writes beautifully.
My belief
on writing with fountain pens: Ink is like blood and many
metaphors could fly from just that perception, but I experience
writing as an open flow of fluid from my heart onto paper
where I deeply touch something (the paper, the topic, the
addressee) as I write. I reverence the art and get a hell
of a kick out of it every day.
Anna
(Dyas A.) Lawson
The only
thing that explains my existence is the changeling legend.
I sprang from ordinary parents (perhaps Muggles?) who fomented
a gene-pool nuclear meltdown that brought them the mercurial,
eccentric offspring who terrorized their domicile for the
next couple of decades. They never did figure out what makes
me tick.
Neither
has anyone else, self included, and it's probably a good thing-surprise
is a vital element in a vibrant life. I hope never to discover
what I'll be when I grow up. Which only proves the changeling
theory.
Having
lived my life beyond the pale, I've developed a strong taste
for not fitting in. By training, trade and passion, I'm a
writer and have made a life, if not much of a living, of scribing
thoughts and observations onto various forms of transmogrified
plant life and tidily aligned electrons. Wouldn't trade it
for the world (but might for real money, or a '67 Jaguar XKE,
or a big Michelangelo). I've my share of academic credentials
and professional accolades, but don't trot them out much.
Many know
me as ListMom, she of the iron cursor and abundant hugs. I
own the 4Pens
listserv-that's "PPPP" for "polite, peripatetic pen-lovers'
paradise." "Peripatetic" refers to subject matter: We hop
like a frog on a hot griddle from topic to topic, often whipping
out one-liners and very bad puns, but we always have fun,
and always come back to pens.
Ah, yes.
Pens. Denizens of my earliest memories. Vivid toddlerly recollections
of squirting my father's grey pearl Sheaffer Balance at the
wall. It's doubtless fortunate that I don't recall the parental
response to such creativity. (Off-the-wall artistic endeavors
still occupy me now and then.)
Living
dangerously, Dad put dip pen in my hand shortly after the
Sheaffer incident and commenced to teach me calligraphy, an
art form over which I still swoon. I've done it professionally,
but no longer can (drat), so have reverted to the Shavian
principle: Those who can't, teach.
Add that
to Dad's print shop (no better high than printers' ink and
fondling paper), my Official Outsider status and an inborn
love for the look, feel, shape, sound and meaning of words-my
fate was sealed early on. Don't think I've ever been without
an FP, even if only a Sheaffer school pen; I can't imagine
life without smooth, wet ink flowing sensuously onto good
paper. 'Twouldn't be worth living.
Now in
my prime (or that's what they call it), I've reared three
fine sons who'll become productive members of society (or
they'll be sorry); lived in six states (did hard time in California
and North Dakota); written two novels and landfills of drivel;
chronicled decades of small-town life; photographed some really
neat stuff; built a Web
site; and lots of other things. I'll talk about 'em on
request. Just don't ask what I wanna be when I grow up.
Jason
Chang
Well,
I've just gotten through reading everyone's bio's and am
fascinated by the wide range of pen collectors/fanatics/etc...out
there. I've been lurking much recently (i.e., checking pentrace
daily for about a month now) and suppose that posting my
bio is as good a way as any to 'officially' join the pentrace
community. I've joined the snail mail group, and received
a wonderfully inviting letter of introduction from Dave
Mason, but have no idea how to access the addresses of other
snail mailers--this is most likely due to the fact that
i can rarely get a computer to do more than word process,
which actually provides somewhat of a segue into my bio,
that is to say that my life requires that i do little more
with a computer than word process...this is getting a bit
confusing. anyways, I digress...
my name
is Jason Chang, age 23, penfanaticism severe (though recently
toned down) and i am currently a graduate student at the
University of Michigan Ann Arbor pursuing a PhD in American
Studies (though at U.M. we've renamed the 'discipline' American
Culture). I'm in my second year, and have been displaced
from my relatively sunny residence in Berkeley, California
by the lure of pursuing a life of the mind in what has proven
to be an incredibly cold part of the country. My research
focuses on post-1945 U.S. history, with particular attention
paid to the construction of "Asianness" in popular American
discourse throughout the period of the Cold War. I'm interested
in reading popular texts, mostly film and literature, as
sites where the construction of a fictive "Asianness" is
simultaneously used to negatively racialize Asian Americans,
while also being a site where Asian American identity is
constantly being redefined and resignified in relation to
a dominant american identity that is itself unstable, incoherent,
and a theoretical impossibility. in other words, my work
tries to imagine alternative political, social, cultural,
and economic alignments that see beyond those that we assume
to be 'natural,' so that the world can be a truly happier,
freer, and overall more equitable place for all life. I
did my undergraduate work at the University of California
Santa Cruz, tucked away in the redwood forest on the California
coast 80 miles south of the San Francisco Bay Area.
On pens...I've
been into pens for as long as i can remember, whether it
was hording cheap diposable ball point pens, accumulating
Parker Jotters and vectors as a junior high and high school
student, writing with a Tombow zoom roller ball and Lamy
Safari fountain pen through college, or writing with a hodge
podge of different fountain pens in graduate school, i've
done it and will continue doing it. the fanaticism didn't
begin until fairly recently. My grandmother passed away
in October, and she was a famous Taiwanese novelist and
historian. I received a bit of money as an informal inheritance,
and decided that as a tribute to her i would spend it on
a nice fountain pen (something that until then i had been
unable--or at least unwilling--to afford). after much returning
i decided to keep my green Stipula Saturno with a medium
nib which writes like a dream. it is my home pen, and i
use it to take notes, and will use it for snail mail if
i ever access those addresses!! A few months and several
pen purchases (modern and vintage) later, I've realized
that my meager salary as a graduate student instructor is
not tailored to this sort of habit, and have moved into
the realm of acquiring inks. luckily, I have a bottle of
Penman Sapphire from before I was a fanatic (wish I had
more), and about ten other bottles all different colors.
In my spare time, which is never, I like to read. but that's
ok since that's what I'm paid, trained, and capable of doing.
I don't get to spend too much time reading fiction--mostly
just critical theory and history. The highlight of my days
is always taking a brief break from reading to write down
a few things--notes, letters, spurts of prose, with one
of my fountain pens. with that, I officially enter the pentrace
community. I look forward to snail mailing with as many
of you as possible...
Karmann
Goff
My name
is Karmann Wattenbarger Goff. I am an East Coast person
who resides in Weatherford, Texas, which is 28 miles west
of Fort Worth. It was a long strange trip from there to
here. Weatherford is the hometown of some notable folks-Broadway
star Mary Martin and Charles Goodnight, Oliver Loving and
Bose Ikard, who were the basis for the characters in Larry
McMurtry’s LONESOME DOVE. Weatherford in a nice old western
town filled with lots of Victorian homes and 40’s era bungalows.
I reside in one of the latter that has been under renovation
for 11 years.
I am
married to Jimmy, and we have one daughter and two sons,
ages 11, 9 and 7. I grew up in Tennessee, and moved to Florida
in my teens. Jimmy is from New Orleans, and we met and married
in Florida. I began formal music training at the age of
7. I play the organ, flute, piano and French horn.
I went
to college on the extended learning plan i.e. I’d rather
be going to school than working. I happened into an engineering
design class one semester ("happened" being Daddy, the Physicist,
told me I’d never make a living as a musician-I needed to
pursue some technical field), and discovered I had a bit
of aptitude for drafting and graphic arts. I procured a
position with a graphic arts company about 6 months before
graduation. I liked the work, but I couldn’t face doing
that for the next 40 years. I packed up and moved to England
to attend Cambridge University. I followed a course in medieval
studies, and was truly happy immersed in literature and
history. When I completed my studies I reluctantly returned
to the US. I was well schooled in knowledge that had little
use, except in the academic realm, so I returned to the
graphic arts firm. My husband and I were married 6 months
later. I worked for an aircraft engine manufacturer for
a while as a draftsman, then when we moved to Texas, I began
working for an airframe manufacturer. I did not make the
transition from paper to computer very successfully. One
day, however, they discovered I could write better than
most engineers, so I embarked on a career as a technical
writer. I had the writing skills needed, and the technical
knowledge, since I had worked for the engine manufacturer.
I was "downsized" in 1991. There is not much of a job market
for a writer of military jet engine repair manuals, so I
retired to full time motherhood.
In 1993,
my best friend and I opened an Antiques Store, specializing
in British Antiques and Collectibles. We closed our successful
store in 1999, when my friend moved away. I took my business
to eBay, and deal mostly in British Pottery and Porcelain.
I resumed
a part-time musical performance career in 1998, and am now
teaching privately. This is the thing I have always wanted
to do. Music truly is my passion. I play the flute when
I’m hired to do so, and I accepted the full time Organist
position at a church last year.
My other
part-time job is that of a substitute teacher. It is not
what I spent all those years in college to do, but there
is something to be said for getting up in the morning and
not having to go to work if you don’t feel like it! Some
days it is arduous, some days it is a real joy. On the rare
occasion when I get to work in a High School Literature
Class, it is an absolute joy. The written word is my joy.
I got
into fountain pens in high school. I had a Sheaffer No-Nonsense
fountain pen. I used it mostly for calligraphy. The friend
who taught me calligraphy is a leftie with a severe hook,
so when I write in the italic form, it always elicits strange
reactions as I use a severe right hook! I was given a Cross
Chrome Pen/Pencil set by my father when I was in high school.
I wrote a lot (won a few awards, too) and wanted a nice
pen. In my senior year, Cross came out with the Matte Black
set, and I wanted it! That year for Christmas my boyfriend
gave me the Matte Black Sheaffer Targa set. It was not the
Cross set! Those pens saw me through college. I headed off
to England with the Cross Matte Black Ballpoint-I gave it
to myself! I wrote many miles of papers with that pen. My
husband gave me the Cross Matte Gray set for our second
anniversary, as we were a cash strapped young married couple.
When I worked for Pratt & Whitney, the on site engineering
supply store had a Parker 75 Cisele I absolutely lusted
after. I never bought it, much to my regret today. I eventually
bought a Parker Vector Fountain Pen at the on-site store
one day. I edited many technical manuals with that one.
I bought
my first "nice" pen (fountain or otherwise) in 1990. I bought
the Parker Centennial Duofold Ballpoint for myself, and
have been in love with it ever since. My Duofold BP looks
just like the FP with the cap posted. Then a couple of years
later I bought a Waterman Executive Fountain Pen. These
two were my everyday, all the time pens. The Waterman surprised
me with its smoothness. I was hooked! In December 1999,
I saw a Lamy Al-Star Safari, and I just had to have one.
Then it was a Parker Sonnet Cisele (thinking about that
75 from years ago). The Sonnet is my favorite. There have
been more pens since then! I then began selling some pens
on eBay: a Parker Fountain Pen/Pencil set I picked up for
$5, a Dupont I picked up for $4. My latest buy for myself
was a Sheaffer Intrigue. I like "classic" looking pens and
quirky looking pens. I just love fountain pens.
I finally
got up the nerve to venture into the vintage pen area last
month. I purchased a Parker Ladies Ribbon Duofold. Then
I bought a red pearl Esterbrook. I successfully repaired
both of these, so I now find myself scouting the local junk/antique
stores for unfound treasures. You never know when you will
find another $4 Dupont!
I enjoy
using my pens, and corresponding with the Snail Mail list
has been enjoyable. I am now searching for the "perfect"
ink for me. My favorite is Penman Sapphire, but I’m down
to ½ a bottle, so I’m looking for a new favorite. Private
Reserve Tanzanite may be the new favorite. One of the snailies
wrote to me in Tanzanite, and I just had to have it!
I am
awaiting the arrival of an Aurora-my first Italian pen.
My next purchase will be a stub nib. I’m really eager to
try one out.
In addition
to accumulating lovely fountain pens, I have other varied
interests. I enjoy listening to music, specifically classical
(baroque, 20th century, English Renaissance), big band/swing
and 70’s/80’s album rock. I am an Anglophile, which expresses
itself in my pottery collection-Poole and Denby Pottery.
I read voraciously-from British History , C.S. Lewis’ essays
on mediaeval literature, British Magazines to the latest
smut books. Genealogy also takes up a bit of my time-I collect
ancestors.
Thanks
to all of you who share your knowledge on the message board.
I have really learned a great deal about pens, thanks to
your generosity.
When you’ve
got:
Some Gershwin on the stereo
A Duofold in your hand
and
A blank sheet of paper
……….Life is GOOD!!
Donal
Higgins
OK so
Xan has admonished me for not posting my bio, here it is..
I'm
43 this year, father of two, son Jack (5) and daughter Aoife
who was announced on the Pentrace message board a few weeks
ago in December. I've been married to Brenda for 10 years
and I am an IT Consultant, specifically database technology
and encryption. I live in Dublin, Ireland.
In addition
to the last 12 years in IT and the previous 8 with the professional
body for Engineers in Ireland, I have worked as a photographer
and in a photo lab, crewed for some rock bands like U2 and
Clapton and played guitar with a band when punk was cool
(one of our tracks was used as the theme tune on a radio
rock show for years; still waiting for royalties!). So it
was a few years after college before I gained any direction!
I am
a relative newbie pen collector, both vintage and modern,
leaning towards vintage. I have eased slowly into the hobby,
taking the advice of the Rev Bob and buying the books first.
My early purchases from Simon Gray at Battersea, David Howes,
David Nishimura and Sam Fiorella (where I get most of my
books) put me on the right track immediately, I can't praise
these guys enough!
I joined
the snail group fairly early on, and it was this along with
the unselfish imparting of information from the group which
now forms the core of pentrace that led me to think about
setting up a web site to hopefully ensure that some of the
knowledge could be recorded for the future. I purchased
one of the first of Len Provisor's great Parker Duofold
plane models last year which in turn led me to get some
blotters printed featuring the plane. Len started me collecting
blotters and during a bout of emailing connected my web
site idea with some ideas that David Mason was mulling over.
Len was therefore the catalyst and impetus behind Pentrace
and David the architect of the basic direction, all I had
to do was to throw some simple HTML together and here we
are! NOW do you see why the plane is on the Home Page?..
Len, David and myself have daily email discussions where
ideas are bounced, batted, laughed at and generally churned!
Len shows us the sky, David keeps our feet on the ground.
I also appreciate and value the back channel correspondence
with so many of you, and in particular the snail mail I
receive! Paul LoCasto brings his enthusiastic self to the
Reader's Corner and the Ink and Paper pages, while Richard
Binder solves the worst of the coding problems I generate
and keeps the site cross platform friendly.
My pen
collection is very modest, 1935 Pelikan 400, 2 Pelikan Green
Demos (one with a Cathedral Overlay), a 1927 Big Red Duofold
Senior (what else!), Bexley Zoss LE, Mont Blanc 149 (older
one, still intact) and a newer 75th Anniversary silver and
rose gold 146, US and UK Parker 51's from 1947/48, a copper
Estie (sorry Esterbrook, didn't we establish that Estie
was rude somewhere?) which was a welcome gift from Randy
Clifford, Waterman Kultur Translucide from France and various
Sheaffer calligraphy/no-nonsense, one with a stub ground
by David Mason. I am still reading the literature and planning
how to fill the remaining slots in my pen case!
I also
have some vintage cameras (1930's Leica, early Linhof 4x5
and Rolliflex) in addition to my Nikon and Hassleblad gear.
I haven't really used this stuff for a while, I must try
some pen photos! Finally I have my treasured Fender Strats,
a Clapton Blackie type and a Stevie Ray Vaughan signature
model with inverted left hand trem, I bought in the U.S.
At the
moment I am doing an IT degree with DCU (Dublin City University),
which takes up my spare time.
The
photo is from last year and shows myself and Jack wondering
if we are near the Fountain Pen Hospital yet!
