Tag Archives: typewriter

Devilish and Sweet Typewriter Tales

by Woody

Although it will go widely unrecognized, today is an important date in history for it was on June 23, 1868, that Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for the typewriter.           

Three years later, Mark Twain saw one of these newfangled machines in a store window, in Boston; in he walked and out he came having paid a whopping $125 – equivalent to about $3,000 today – for a Remington model.

It proved to be a love-hate relationship for at one point Twain insisted Remington, which originated the QWERTY keyboard layout, cease and desist mentioning him in its advertisements, writing: “Please do not use my name in any way. I don’t want people to know I own this curiosity-breeding little joker.”

Mr. Twain on my Olivetti Lettera 32 model favored by Cormac McCarthy.

Twain also claimed these new typing machines were “full of caprices, full of defects – devilish ones.”

And yet, according to literary scholars, Twain was the first author to submit a typewritten manuscript – “Life on the Mississippi” – to a publisher in 1883.

In honor of today being National Typewriter Day, I would like to share the story of another QWERTY machine, this one bought not brand new for a princely sum, but secondhand at a pawnshop for $50. Even back in 1963 that was bargain for a top-of-the-line Olivetti Lettera 32 portable model.

The purchaser was Cormac McCarthy, legendary author of “The Road” and “All The Pretty Horses” and “Blood Meridian” and a long shelf of other best-seller page-turners, who died earlier this month at age 89.

McCarthy banged away on the black keys of that blue-bodied typewriter for nearly a half-century until the Italian-made machine wore out beyond repair. No small wonder it finally became roadkill considering the Pulitzer Prize-winner estimated he had put about 5 million words on its odometer.

Here is where McCarthy’s typewriter story gets even better, in three ways.

One. Whereas Twain surely would have tried out the caprices, defects and devilishness of a computer, McCarthy remained true to Christopher Latham Sholes’ invention.

Two. McCarthy, despite his fame and riches, did not buy a typewriter restored to mint condition for the burgeoning collector’s market that now sees machines priced as high as MacBooks. Rather, a friend gave him a replacement, another blue Olivetti Lettera 32, for which he paid all of $11 and which McCarthy used for his next million words.

Three. In 2009, McCarthy, who wrote in an authentication letter, “I have typed on this typewriter every book I have written including three not yet published,” put his original Olivetti up for auction.

The pre-bid estimate of $20,000 proved wildly wrong as an anonymous collector paid an eye-popping $254,500 with the proceeds, in a rare happy ending for a McCarthy tale, going to a non-profit organization.

I am happy to say that the entire handful of typewriters I have accumulated cost well below $254,500. This includes a blue Olivetti Lettera 32 identical to McCarthy’s, albeit a 1969 model with about four million fewer words of wear on its typebars and no New York Times Best Sellers to its credit.

Like McCarthy’s replacement Lettera 32, mine was a gift, not from a friend but from my little sister a couple years ago. For writing notes and letters it has the most pleasant touch and action of all my typing machines.

Even so, I dare say it is not the sweetest typewriter I own. That honor goes to another one My Li’l Sis gave me last month for my birthday, a replica of a Hermes Baby used by John Steinbeck, or so it seems, as it is quite small…

…and made of gourmet chocolate.

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Essay copyrights Woody Woodburn

Woody writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His SIGNED books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Three Winks From The Universe

by Woody

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn

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Three Winks From

The Universe

Whether the glass is half full or half empty, sometimes it gets knocked over. And sometimes when this happens the universe laughs at you, but other times it smiles and gives you a wink.

Last Sunday, the glass in question was a nearly full bottle of maple syrup waiting to be poured over pancakes. Reaching for the syrup, I carelessly knocked the bottle over …

… with its lid already off …

… the bottle toppled onto its side …

… its mouth coming to rest hanging over the edge of my plate …

… and the syrup poured onto my pancakes …

… in the perfectly desired amount …

… without any sticky syrup spilling onto the table or floor.

It was all a one-in-a-million shot and a playful wink from the universe asking, “How Did You Like That Trick?”

* * *

My luck appeared to change the next day with a half-full mailbox.

In order for a card I was mailing to arrive on time, I needed to get it out on Monday. Our postal carrier usually comes by in the afternoon, but to be safe I strolled to my neighborhood’s community mailboxes at midmorning.

My mistake was dropping the letter into the outgoing slot before checking my own box. Alas, the mail had already been delivered so my card would not go out for another day. Had I looked first, I could have instead mailed the card at the post office for timely delivery.

As the universe giggled at me, I gently chastised myself for not mailing the card an hour earlier.

Then the universe’s laugh grew louder. As I was walking back home, the postal carrier rounded the corner to exit our neighborhood. I suddenly wished I had come out to mail my letter two minutes later than I did because then I could have flagged down our mail carrier and handed her the letter directly.

Quick as a wink, I decided to wave frantically anyway …

… the postal carrier stopped her truck …

… listened to my tragic tale of being a bonehead …

… and promised to retrieve my card from the outgoing box.

* * *

If the universe wasn’t laughing at me the following evening, my wife surely was when my reading glasses disappeared. Fifteen minutes earlier I had been reading on the couch and now I had all the cushions off, searching the crevices, with no luck.

I retraced my steps from earlier that evening, from the entire day, even checked rooms I hadn’t been in for days.

As my frustration grew, I expanded my search to the kitchen trash and counters, cabinets and drawers that made no sense. I turned the couch inside out a second time.

If our 22-month-old granddaughter had been visiting, I would have been convinced she carried them off somewhere while playing and laughed it off. Instead, as I continued looking high and low and every height in between, the thought that I was losing my mind crossed my mind.

Alas, like Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Purloined Letter” or the last Easter egg often to be found, my reading glasses proved to be in plain sight …

… in the same room across from the couch …

… resting on top of a typewriter …

… that sits on a table I had checked at least a couple times.

On that keyboard is where my wife claims to have found The Purloined Glasses. She didn’t wink, but I’m convinced she conspired with the universe to prank me.

 *   *   *

Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …

Steinbeck’s (Like) Typewriter

by Woody

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#TBT stands also for

Throwback Typing

            Throwback Thursday, more often designated simply with the hashtag #TBT, is popular on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter when social media users post nostalgic photos once a week.

In that same spirit, this is a #TBT column. Instead of a photograph from yesteryear, the nostalgia involved is that I wrote the first draft of this column on a typewriter instead of my laptop computer. #TBT is for Throwback Typing.

This old-school exercise came about because I recently received a truly glorious gift for my birthday – a 1949 Hermes Baby portable typewriter in mint condition.

John Steinbeck’s Hermes Baby at San Jose State University.

Gray, black and silver with a single fire-engine red racing stripe, it is the same model John Steinbeck took on his famous road trip around America while writing “Travels with Charley.” His Baby, etched with “The Beast Within” on the back, is on display in the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University. Ever since seeing it a handful of years ago, I have been smitten.

“Suisse”-made, the Hermes Baby made its debut in 1924 and was anything but beastly. In fact, it was the first true mini-typewriter with a four-row keyboard. Indeed, the Baby is a marvel in sleek compactness, almost exactly the rectangular size of my Apple Notebook, albeit nearly three inches in height instead of less than an inch thick.

My Hermes Baby on display … at home in Ventura.

Compared to the 1912 Underwood No. 5 that I inherited from my grandfather, which is about as heavy as an anvil, the Baby is featherlight. Too, its keystrokes require only a light touch rather than finger pounding.

All the same, the keyboard forces me to slow down. This is not because the type bars stick together if they simultaneously cross paths, but rather because my specific Baby has an odd Italian layout with the customary QWERTY keyboard arranged instead QZERTY. Hence, one must turn off the autopilot when typing W’s and Z’s that have traded places.

As a result, it is easy to misspell zords – rather, words – containing Z’s and W’s. In notes to friends, I simply let these transposed misstrikes go as is because I think they add charm. With this column draft, however, I edited misstrikes and mistakes the old-fashioned way, in pencil using copyediting symbols. Doing so was enjoyably nostalgic.

The funky W and Z keys added to my nostalgia. You see, at my first newspaper job nearly four decades past, the ancient battleship-sized Remington typewriter I was assigned had a broken “K” key. Actually, half-broken – it would type a capital but not lowercase. Thus, one had to painstakingly hit “Shift” and “K” to write “broKen” or “quarterbacK” and then correct it afterward with a copyediting slash.

Being forced to slow the fingers down perhaps has its advantages by also making one think in less of a rush. Indeed, this first draft seemed more polished than when I compose on a speedy laptop where rewriting is clean and easy. It’s the difference between walking a high wire without a safety net below versus with one.

Despite the added step of retyping my words into a laptop document file, perhaps I will write more columns on my Baby – or my 1953 Underwood portable or 1962 Hermes 3000 Curvy, a beautiful sea-foam green semi-portable that rounds out my small collection to date.

An old song goes, “Don’t throw the past away / You might need it some rainy day . . . When everything old is new again.”

That’s how I, and a growing number of QWERTY – and QZERTY – aficionados, feel about Throwback Typewriters. My Hermes Baby is a seven-decades-old fossil, but it also seems good as new again.

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FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn

Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at woodywoodburn. His books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.

Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …

Part II: Bookworm’s Typewriter

by Woody

Is your Club or Group looking for an inspiring guest speaker or do you want to host a book signing? . . . Contact Woody today!

* * *

1StrawberriesCoverWooden-&-Me-cover-mock-upFor a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

Part II: Notes From a Bookstore’s Typewriter

The vintage Remington typewriter on display in Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm, an enchanted independent bookstore in Camarillo, could not be more irresistible were it to have a “Do Not Touch” sign on it.

Instead, a note invites patrons to sit down and type. As further encouragement, a sheet of paper always awaits in the carriage. Hundreds of people, many of them youngster who have never before used such a relic, have accepted the invitation.

Typing my own message on Mrs. Figs’ typewriter.

Some typists take their messages with them as keepsakes, but most tuck their “Notes from a Public Typewriter” – that being the title of the book that inspired this special nook – into a memento jar.

Connie Halpern – dear “Mrs. Figs” herself – recently allowed me to open the stuffed jar and read its contents. Some of the notes are silly, others heartfelt. Many are like short fortune-cookie adages, others much longer. Some have the typist’s name, but most are anonymous. More than a few have endearing typos and misstrikes.

Here is a sampling . . .

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“me and my sister rachel are in a book store and i found this awesome typewriter and i am sooo fascinated with how this works and i love it.”

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“hello. Typing on a typewriter is fun.”

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“hello my name is eli and I am awesome. This typewriter is cool.”

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“Hello world i am here”

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“Ben the Incredible was here.”

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“Sometimes you see a friend . . . just see their face, and your entire world brightens.”

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“Some days feel like they may be an ‘upside down’ day, but then life happens and the day turns out to be just beautiful and ‘upright!’ Thank. You. Life.”

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The one and only Mrs. Figs — Connie Halpern.

“i LOVE u”

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“ ‘I love you.’ Language is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”

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“I LOVE THIS TYPEWRITER”

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“Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type Why do people still have typewriters?”

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“this is an old piece of technology. this thing does not always make the letter appear you must press hard.”

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“memories of the past this typewriter brings each finger presses a key to create the words my fingers are tired.”

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“The most valued gifts to someone are: Your time, your attention, and your respect : ) ”

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“KNOCK ME OVER WITH A FEATHER

“I am a disabled veteran who went to In-N-Out Burger on Independence Day to avoid the fireworks because the sound and sight and shockwaves put me in a bad place emotionally. And, while there, wearing a hat which identified myself as a veteran, I had two teens approach me. I had never met them before. They both said ‘Thank you for doing all you have done’.

“Then each of the two young men shook my hand. It was a very good feeling, being recognized even in the high-paced and crowded place that is In-N-Out. Thank you to those two young lads who made my Independence Day”

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“I love reading. I love books. I love Mrs. Figs!”

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“hi im a geek I love harry potter.”

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“Do you REALLY want people to treat you the way you treat them?”

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“Sometimes we don’t think things are working out, but they are.”

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“Don’t forget to sing. Please.”

* * *

Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Wooden & Me Kickstarter Front PhotoCheck out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …

Bookworm’s Readers Also Type

by Woody

Is your Club or Group looking for an inspiring guest speaker or do you want to host a book signing? . . . Contact Woody today!

* * *

1StrawberriesCoverWooden-&-Me-cover-mock-upFor a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

Bookworm’s Readers Encouraged to Type

Visitors to Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm, a magical independent bookstore in Camarillo, take in a wonderful greeting upon entering. I am not talking about a warm hello, although always they receive this as well.

Rather, three steps inside the front door and straight ahead so as not to be missed, The Typewriter Nook beckons.

Specifically, a grey 1955 Remington Quiet-Riter manual typewriter rests on a small table with a chair before it. There is always a sheet of paper in the vintage machine.

Also on the table, to the right of the typewriter, is a small, thin, red hardback titled: “Notes from a Public Typewriter.” The book is about a typewriter set out in a similar fashion for patrons of a bookstore in Ann Arbor to type messages. It was the inspiration for this special nook 2,300 miles away.FIGS_Typewriter

A few months past, Connie Halpern – also knows as Mrs. Figs – sent a copy of the little red book to Michael Mariani. She thought Michael, a Venturan who collects vintage typewriters, would relish it.

Connie, as usual with her book recommendations, was spot on. As a thank you, Michael gave the Quiet-Riter from his collection to Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm so its patrons could have a similar opportunity to express themselves on a public typewriter.

“It was a huge surprise,” Connie says of the refurbished antique gift. “It brought tears to my eyes.”

And so The Typewriter Nook came to be.

As a further welcome and enticement to sit down and express oneself, on the table just to the left of the typewriter is this message: “Valued Friend. You are important. Please enjoy this space. Take your message with you. Or leave it her to be shared with others.”

For the latter, there rests on the table a square jar labeled: “Messages in a Bottle!” Hundreds of notes, many brief and others quite lengthy, have filled the glass vessel to overflowing.

1figsme

“Mrs. Figs” aka the wonderful Connie Halpern

“At least once a day, someone sits at the typewriter,” Connie says. “Always with a big smile on their face!”

She adds: “I would say the majority of the typists are youngsters – who have a giggling parent standing by, sharing how they used to type on one.”

Nostalgia for the grownups is new-fangled for the kids.

“Most will ask for help,” Connie shares. “Some frequent and repetitive – and precious and priceless – questions have been:

“How do you turn it on?” (You don’t need to, she answers.)

“Where is the number 1?” (You have to use a lower case “L” on this model, she tells them.)

“Where is the exclamation point?” (You have to use a period, then backspace and use an apostrophe over the period, she directs.)

“Where is the delete button?” (Mrs. Figs tries not to laugh.)

Connie continues: “There has not been one face that is not smiling, ear to ear, while exploring the typewriter.”

Has this enchanted reaction surprised her?

“To be honest, no,” Connie answers. “Because when I sat down to type on it the very first time – it had been almost 35 years since I had used one – I nearly cried tears of joy. I squealed! So I immediately knew that joy would be the overwhelming reaction.”

Always a lovely place to be, when someone sits down at the Quiet-Riter and the clickity-clack-click typing begins, Mrs. Figs’ Bookworm becomes even more so.

“If I were asked to describe the melody of the typewriter,” Connie says, “I would say it sounds like Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach Cello Suite No. 1.”

Next week, I will share some of the “musical” notes played in the Bookworm to date.

* * *

Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Wooden & Me Kickstarter Front PhotoCheck out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …

An ‘Uncommon Type’ Love Story

by Woody

An ‘Uncommon Type’ Love Story

On the back of his 1950s Hermes Baby portable typewriter, which he took along on his “Travels with Charley” road trip around America, author John Steinbeck etched: “The Beast Within.”

Michael Mariani, a Venturan I wrote about here last week, has his own Beast Within – a newfound typewriter addiction. In addition to a vintage Hermes Baby, he owns nine other portables. His collection dates to 1926 and has at last one representative model from each ensuing decade through the ’70s.

Reading Tom Hanks’ book “Uncommon Type,” a collection of wonderful short stories featuring typewriters, Michael was inspired to get one of his own. In February, in Oxnard off Craigslist, he bought a handsome black-and-gold 1936 L.C. Smith & Corona Standard for about the cost of a tank of gas.

MichaelM_Typewriters

Three of Michael Mariani’s restored vintage typewriters.

Michael wasted no time adding No. 2 the next day, a 1948 Royal Arrow, again locally off Craigslist, and again for a price he considered a song. In the bargain, he learned of an old pro who repairs and cleans these mechanical dinosaurs.

After perusing websites on the subject and reading more books, including “The Typewriter Revolution,” Michael joined the analog insurgency with enthusiasm. More than once, he went to check out one typewriter and returned home with two. By April, he reached double digits.

“I got hooked on the chase,” Michael explains. “These machines are cool. And I can’t believe how inexpensive they are – only two of my typewriters were more than a hundred bucks.

“It actually wasn’t love at first type,” Michael adds, smiling. “After using a computer for 35 years, I quickly learned you really have to push the keys HARD!”

The added effort soon charmed him.

“A typewriter is the opposite of a computer,” Michael allows. “It’s slower. It slows you slow. There’s no delete key. I like that concept – slow down. I’m not a writer, but I use them to write letters and thank-you notes.”

Michael’s home has become a typewriter museum of sorts. Entering the living room, guests are greeted by three beautifully restored portables on display side by side by side: 1936 L.C. Smith & Corona Standard, 1948 Royal Arrow, 1926 Remington No. 1.

In a bedroom now empty of his and Kay’s two grown sons, a table is filled with more portable typewriters: 1958 Smith-Corona Clipper, a favored model by Tom Hanks by the way; 1951 Royal Quiet De Luxe; 1965 Olympia SM8; 1971 Brother Echelon; 1955 Remington Quiet-Riter; 1971 Smith-Corona Super Sterling; and, Michael’s most costly machine at $110, a Steinbeck-favored 1943 Hermes Baby.

“Typing-wise, feel-wise, my favorite so far is the 1965 Olympia,” Michael notes. “I also find it interesting that it was made in Western Germany, not that long after the Berlin Wall went up (in 1961). Typing on it just feels goooood.

“Typewriters, I’ve found, are a bit like dating,” Michael continues. “It’s different for everyone and you just have to see what you like, what you love.”

This is a QWERTY love story, so it is only fittingly that the very first thing Michael typed on his first old-school acquisition was to his wife of 32 years.

“I left it in the typewriter on the counter,” Michael shares. Included in that sweet note was the fact that he could not find the exclamation point – in fact, the 1926 Corona Standard does not have such a key.

Kay typed back: “I love you!” She also added an exclamation explanation – that she used the apostrophe, backspace, and period to make the mark.

Unlike mythological Hermes, the speedy messenger of the Greek gods, Kay had wonderfully slowed down to deliver her message.

* * *

1StrawberriesCoverWooden-&-Me-cover-mock-upFor a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

 

Old Type Way to Slow Down

by Woody

Old Type Way to Slow Down and Smell Roses

My dear friend Michael Mariani recently texted – ironically, it seems to me – asking if I had a manual typewriter he could borrow. He was considering buying one, but wanted first to do a test drive.

I replied that while my circa 1910 Underwood No. 5 had been restored to fine working order, it still offered a fairly clunky experience.

Only days later, I received an old-fashioned typed letter. It was folded and tucked inside a card with a photograph of the gorgeous black-and-gold 1936 L.C. Smith & Corona Standard portable typewriter of which Michael had impulsively become the proud owner.TypewriterKeys_Screen shot

Unlike perfectly uniform lettering spit out by a computer printer, typed keystrokes create various shades of black which in turn create a kind of mosaic artwork beyond the words themselves.

Moreover, I believe the x’d out mistakes and typos – after all, a typewriter has no “delete” key or spell-check – in Michael’s letter add warmth and beauty.

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“Dear Woody,

“You are holding in your hand my third typewritten note.

“What is my fascination with the typewriter?

“I like the idea that it forces me to slow down. Like millions of people, (oh my, the sound of the bell!) I am in search of ways to slow down in my life. I have spent the past 35 years looking for ways to speed up and always striving to increase efficiencies. Now, i (sic) long for the opposite.

“I love to see my errors. No big bother waiting to correct my spelling or grammar. When I make an x (an “a” has been struck over with an “x”) error, it is there for all to see.

“I love the nostalgia of these machines. I x (an “o” has been x’d out) also was not aware of the very (there is that beuatiful (sic) ding again!) large following. It seems I am not alone in my quest to honor these wonderful machines. I am now the proud owner of not one, but three typewriters.TypewriterHands

“I imagine the people that first used these to write important documents or love letters or mundane business docments (sic). I am reading a book about this revolution, no surprisxe (sic), and it appears there are other books on the subject that I plan to read.

“I have alwasys (sic) wanted to write and the typewriter gives me an excuse and allows me to dream (an “a” is covered by a hard-struck “m”) and pretend I am writing some great work, even if it is only a simple letter.

“I love the sound of the keys hitting the paper. I love the history of them. I love that I can collect three of these special machines for about $200.

“I look forward to finding ways to share my joy with others in the future.

“Sincerely,

(Handwritten signature)

“Michael”

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Wooden & Me Kickstarter Front PhotoCheck out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …

Part 2: Typing Free Verse For Tips

by Woody

Is your Club or Group looking for an inspiring guest speaker or do you want to host a book signing? . . . Contact Woody today!

* * *

1StrawberriesCoverWooden-&-Me-cover-mock-upFor a Personalized Autographed copy of “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME” or “WOODEN & ME” mail a check for $25 to:

Woody Woodburn

400 Roosevelt Court

Ventura, CA 93003

* * *

Part 2: Poet Types Free Verse For Tips

Shannon, the vagabond street poet I met in New Orleans and wrote about last week in recognition of April being National Poetry Month, has collected half a dozen typewriters.

A couple of her manual machines, including a beloved Royal Aristocrat, are in distant repair shops waiting for her to pick up. Three more are stored with friends in different cities, also awaiting her return visit.

Her sixth portable, a white Smith-Corona Corsair made in the 1960s, is what she was typing on when I met her along a French Quarter sidewalk.

“It’s a conversation starter,” Shannon said, noting that a fair portion of her customers stop originally to ask her about her various vintage typewriters.1TyprwriteMural

As an acoustic guitar is to a subway singer, so is a portable typewriter to Shannon. Indeed, her fingers create music on the keyboard:

Click-clack-click-clack-clack go the keys and typeslugs striking paper.

DING! goes the margin bell.

Ziiiiiip! goes the return carriage sliding back to the right to begin another line.

The composing done, Shannon’s performance is not yet complete. Using a disposable lighter she melts a red blob of envelope sealing wax, about the size of a quarter, onto the bottom left corner of the stationary. Next, while it is still molten, she uses a stamp to imprint the image of a full-leaved tree – in reverence, I took it, to Joyce Kilmer’s famous line: “I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.”

Shannon’s poem written for me, you will see, was plenty lovely.

Surprisingly, she does not make carbon copies nor snap cell-phone photos of her poetry to keep for remembrance.

“I want to release my art into the world,” Shannon explained. “Letting go reflects the impermanence of my life.”

She did not say this darkly.

“I hope to do this my entire life,” Shannon said of writing poetry for tips. “I love to travel. I love to meet people. And I make a good enough living.”

Asked how much she is typically paid for a poem, she replied, perhaps inflating the figures to prime the pump: “Twenty bucks is the average, I’d say. Some pay only five or ten, which is fine.”

She flashed a toothpaste-ad smile and added: “I’ve gotten a hundred dollars a few times.”

I asked if she had a repertoire of poems that she alters, twists and shoehorns to fit the topics people choose. She was half-insulted: “Oh no, never. My poems are all original content.”

The topic I gave Shannon was “running.” Here is what she clack-clack-click-clack-DING!-ziiiiip composed and then theatrically read aloud:

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RUNNING

I am devoted to the moment

My legs make good time

With my body, and I move

Forward, through the wind

I feel the breeze on my cheeks

My heart beats fast

Soil, earth beneath

I seem to ascend

My potential, limitless, without

Bounds, I am running

Free and nothing can stop me

But the racing of my heart

The only way I can get

My mind to silence

Is to go for a run

I’ll allow the world to

Fade away, I’ll consider only

My steps and I’ll tap in

To the great enigma of

Existence then

Running

Is freedom

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It may not be of Robert Frost or Maya Angelou fame, but it is fairly wonderful all the same – all the more so for having been typed on the fly in less than 10 minutes with no rewriting or XXXX strikeouts.

Indeed, I tried to be generous and still believe the original poem I received from Shannon was a bargain at the price.

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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.

Wooden & Me Kickstarter Front PhotoCheck out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …