| Greg Goode | |||
| Biography # 224 | email: goode@dpw.com | ||
You guys are great! In the short time I've been on the Pentrace message board, I've come to appreciate the information, collegiality and good spirits that abound here. I'm looking forward to exchanging snail mail, and today at lunch I went to Crane's for some nice stationery. Born in California in 1953, I work in the IT department of a large Manhattan law firm. My schooling was for something different entirely. I have a M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy and a Bachelor's in Psychology. My wife is from Shanghai, China. We and her son (by a former marriage) live happily in an international section of New York City. I'm new to pen collecting, though I've lived around great and not-so-great writing instruments all my life. My parents were both artists, and my father earned his living as a draftsman and industrial designer. Why has it taken me so long? My handwriting is scrawly, and I'm left handed. About every 5 years or so, I try using a fountain pen. But up to now, I've never wanted to take the extra effort to avoid dragging my cuff through the drying ink. Now, I'm motivated. I love the sensuous lifeline of beautiful ink on fine paper. I even feel the pull to practice a bit of calligraphy. My interest in pens is mostly aesthetic. It ties in with my love of art, film, literature, philosophy, the tactile world, slower and simpler times, and 20th century nostalgia. And just as I'm interested in the pens, I'm every bit as interested in the paper and ink. I grew up in the 50's - 70's in California. I actually *like* those old Lindy pens with their rainbow shades. My mother carried them in her purse. At home we had stylographs, Koh-i-Noor ink, lever- fill fountain pens, dipping pens, calligraphic pens, Parker 51's, Sheaffer's all manner of colored pencils, mechanical pencils, Pantones, Magic Markers, drafting boards, matt boards, tracing paper and fixative. As kids in grade school, my friends and I were always in search of the perfect ballpoint pen that would accompany us always. The cardinal sin for us was a pen that was too faint or skippy. More pen memories, all ballpoint unless specified!.... Early 70's - Nerdy Sheaffers and Parker T-Ball Jotters that I didn't like the looks of. Wore them in my shirt pocket. Mid-Late 70's - Koh-i-Noor Rapidographs for note-taking in college. Lamy pens that I discovered while in Germany in the Army. This was shortly after that company launched. 80's in grad school - Any Bic or PaperMate stick pen I came across. Also, at University of Rochester, people were enthusiastic about Cross ballpoints as status symbols. We gave them to alumni who donated lots of money to the school. I could never figure out the attraction as they always fall out of my hand. And to this day I'm un-interested in Cross. 90's - Rotring steel with knurling. Visits to Art Brown's Pen shop. 2000's still in NYC - Gel pens and black paper, inspired by my 12-yr-old niece! Mont Blanc. I really like the heft and balance to MB's. So I picked up the 75th Anniversary Le Grande set of ballpoint and mechanical pencil. 2002/2003, that very holiday week: the fountain pen bug bit! Besides pens, I like watches, bicycles, knives, boots, film, literature, mysteries (have a library of 7,000), Asian culture, philosophy, Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta. I teach the latter two at a local school in New York, and have written about them on the Internet. Some essays of mine. So far, NONE of them on pens:
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