In Spite of the Hole
I have a big, crockery pot in my cupboard that I have used for at least thirty years. I use it to cook, store and reheat all manner of soups, stews and sauces, and it has become indispensable to me. It has a hole somewhere near the center of the lid, and recently a younger friend asked me if the purpose of the hole was to allow steam to escape. She was astonished when I told her that the pot was intended to be a microwave slowcooker, and the hole in the top was for a temperature probe, which I had lost years ago. I keep the pot because it is still useful to me, in spite of the hole.
The hole in the lid has become a kind of metaphor to me, and a reminder that when it comes to technology, nothing can do everything. The idea of using a microwave to cook things slowly is ludicrous (even though I have to admit I tried it), and equally ludicrous is the notion that the computer and its offspring the smartphone can handle all communication needs. And yet it seems many of us have become so entranced—temporarily, I hope—with the technology that we try to use it to perform tasks that are better served by putting pen to paper.
Past and current editorial coverage in PW demonstrates that we are not technophobes. Far from it—we applaud those who use technology with purpose. In this issue (News) you’ll read about a new iPhone application called Better Letters that teaches handwriting. It was developed by handwriting expert Kate Gladstone to fill a very read need.
Another example: Photographer and avid journaler Michael Fiedler has an excellent blog. But he also spends a significant amount of time creating a living record of twenty-first-century life through his Working Journals, using the media of pen, paper and photography. We think when you read Marie A. Picon’s story “Journal(ism)” in this issue, you’ll agree that Fiedler’s journals are revelatory in a way that could never be approximated through more high-tech means.
And then there’s Andy Kyle (read all about him in “Legacy of Love”), who didn’t have much of a choice but to write his letters home with a fountain pen during World War II. One letter written with that pen sparked a true love story, and the pen itself set off a detective saga as well. For sure, email has brought people together, but something about Kyle’s story makes me glad it hadn’t been invented yet.
Also in this issue, you’ll find all manner of pens to suit your taste and purpose. The exquisite Danitrio pen on the cover is but one example of the company’s painstakingly created maki-e offerings, and we trust the story “Treasures of the Heart” will bring you to a whole new appreciation for the company and the art form. We also catch up with penmaker Grayson Tighe (see “Tighe’d and True”), who became a penmaker to be reckoned with when he was only eighteen.
Our Sixteenth Annual Readers’ Choice Awards ballot is in this issue, and we’ve included thumbnails of all nominated pens to make your job a little easier. Be sure to cast your vote! We like to think of the awards as the pen equivalent of the Academy Awards, except that you have to be a member of the academy to vote in their awards. You only have to love pens to vote in ours.
As I write this column, we at PW have just learned of the passing of longtime contributor Art Maier (see p. 10). His legions of followers will sorely miss seeing his work in these pages. In true Art Maier style, he kept writing until the end, even as he battled the cancer that finally claimed his life, and his final “Care” column appears in this issue along with a reprint of one of his early articles. Speaking of holes, his passing leaves a very real one in our hearts.
