| Bernie Gagnon (Bernie) | |||
| Biography # 319 | email: bernie209@sympatico.ca | ||
They call me Bernie although my name is Bernard. I have had an affinity to fountain pens since high school where I was the only one using a fountain pen. I got a Parker 45, it worked well then and still works like new after many years. I started collecting (or accumulating as they say) 22 years ago. I now have about 700 fountain pens that write plus many that I canibalize from time to time. I prefer the vintage pens for many reasons although I have many new ones. Those that collect vintage pens will understand. The word 'STYLOPHILE' comes from my desk. It is made of two greek words, "stylos" and "philos". I was sure that I had introduced the word originally but it seems that the word appeared in the New Yorker many years ago although it was not ultimately used. After the word started to appear regularly amongst fountain pen collectors, it appeared in the New York times in a cross-word puzzle in July 2004. The Stylophile Magazine started to use the word after Bill R. first checked with me. This is my contribution to fountrain pen collecting everywhere. I have been married for 45 years, I am the grand father of six grand kids and the great grand father of one cute girl. Nobody in my family shares my hobby although two of my children use a fountain pen daily. I retired from the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in 1990. My two sons are now in the RCMP and my daughter is a middle-manager in the Federal Gorvernment. When I turned 50, all my kids had left to live on their own and none returned to live here. I speak to all three of them regularly. Either they call me or I call them. I show interest in their endeavors and this is a motivator on its own. Some years back, and for three years I wrote a column in a widely circulated nespaper called "The Upper Canadian" which caters to antiques enthusiasts and such. It is published every second month. It isn't that I ran out of material to write on, but the internet was starting to be used by more and more people and it offered all what one needs to know on the subject. My likes are peace and quiet in its own time. My dislike are loud or harsh words or arguments. This of course could be said about just about anyone. Being retired means that I am usually at the place and time that I want to be. Who can ask for more? I belong to the Ottawa Fountain Pen Society.
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