| M.S. Jimmie Cockburn | |||
| Biography # 235 | email: pensMSCpens.cockburn@erols.com | ||
My birthday is October 6. I have been interested in writing instruments all my life. My first recollection is of a burgundy vacumatic Parker which I was using in grade school but it was confiscated by a teacher in his believe that it might not be entirely mine; my father reassured him that indeed he had given me the pen. I had to use an Esterbrook after that, however, at home I continued to do my homework with my beloved burgundy Parker. Unfortunately, this pen was lost to me. My favorite pen in medical school was a black snorkel Sheaffer, medium nib, that still I have. I also had a dove gray Parker 51, as a set of FP & BP, and these two also have a story to tell. I had kept the set in great shape and in time I gave it to my son. Alas, I had also given my son a Doberman Pinscher, and the dog managed to chew the BP. Of course, I was distressed but determined nevertheless to fix the damage, and so with great luck I found a lovely person, by the name of Susan Writ, who took the time and applied her talent to fixing the dog's job. Now I have the dove gray Parker 51 set mounted on a frame displaying the chewed and repaired BP and the FP. During my many years of intense professional work I have used mostly BP's, why, with all those many copies one has to sign and the needed pressure that one cannot get from a FP. However, I could never bring myself to use the utilitarian drug store variety of BP's, good as they are, so I always carried with me a "decent" writing instrument of one type or another. My children remember me wearing a Parker 75 pencil and BP, those still I have with a collection of other Ciseles, Premier and Sonnet. I was visiting in Spain at one time when I lost the gold Waterman BP I was carrying with me. Naturally, I had to find a replacement right away and so I did at a fabulous place in downtown Madrid, the name is Plumas Sacristan (http;//www.sacristan.com/principal.asp), in business since 1915 and still going strong (you just sit at a desk and try the pens you are interested in). After that visit to a serious pen store, my interest in pens began anew. Back home I started a pilgrimage to the pen stores in the area where I live, that is, the Washington DC greater metropolitan area, and I began talking to people also interested in pens. Thus I discovered that there was such a thing as "pen shows." The first pen show I visited was in Boston, 1997, by chance coincidental with my business trip there. I was amazed at the number of pens I saw, and bought a few 51's and 21's and desk sets. Back in Washington I went heavy on 51's, I had all the unusual caps including the Empire, Heirloom, solid gold, etc., and then I sold them: bad, bad, I miss them terribly but they are gone and nothing can be done. I kept on acquiring a number of pens (Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer and others), and then one day I found the book "Fountain Pens History and Design" edited by Giorgio Dragoni and Giusseppe Fichera. I was totally taken by this magnificent book that compiles in a single volume the history of writing instruments, well written and beautifully illustrated with extraordinary photographs and descriptions. I thought in my naivete that I could obtain all the pens shown in this book, only to run out my budget for pens really fast. I have even ripped off pages of the book to place one of my pens on top of the corresponding illustration, this really makes an excellent display (I have three copies of this book). I have continued going to pen shows and buying and selling pens there, also in eBay, (I got into Penbid early in the game, probably before many of my fellow pen collectors knew about this site). Recently I have discovered Duofold pencils; what caught my attention here was the color of the pencils that has remained very bright in comparison to the FPs, most of which are discolored except for the rare one found in mint condition. Most of my pencil finds are in need of repair, an enterprise I decided to take myself, well, a madman has designed the mechanism but I am learning. When I finally achieve my goal of repairing a certain pencil and it looks marvelous, I place it in a display box and took delight in their individual and collected beauty. Where will my next interest in writing instruments be is a part of the unknown future. M. S. (Jimmie) Cockburn pensMSCpens
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