| T. Michael Weddle (TMWeddle) | |||
| On Snail List | Biography # 260 | email: TMWeddle@aol.com | |
I'm T. Michael Weddle (Mike) of Columbus, Ohio. I am a retired elementary school teacher. I retired in 1997 after 31 years in the classroom. The Ohio State University is my Alma Mater - B.S. and M.A. degrees. My wife is also a retired teacher - we have three grown children. Since retiring I have been a volunteer tour guide at the Ohio State House - sometimes dressed in 1860s garb - as I am also a Civil War civilian re-enactor - a professor who goes to the camps to be of service and write letters for the less literate soldiers. I have a sign that reads "Letters Read and Written". When a wag commented on how could those who need my services tell what it said - someone replied that the clients of the mortician can't read his sign either but they get there just the same! Since October, 2001, I have a part time job - one that is typical for an old school master - I work at the circulation desk of a local library - a fine institution and the work place of at least three pen people. This goes along with my pleasure reading addiction. As far as pens go - I can remember my mother's Sheaffer Triumph nib from the forties - I now have several - looking at that wrap-around nib brings a warm wave of nostalgia. I first used a fountain pen in 1952 in third grade - I know they were Sheaffers - could they have been cartridge style then? I remember using dip pens in school sometime, also. I have a few dip pens that date back to the middle of the 19th Century - they go along with my re-enacting persona. Over the years I really liked FPs and would often use one - in the seventies and eighties my use of them declined somewhat. Sometime in the eighties I had the good fortune to get a very good deal on a Cross Townsend - it is my first high quality pen. Since then, from one place or another I have obtained many other pens. We all seem to be in that hunt for the perfect modern pen or that elusive bit of history. On any given day I might have a new pen or a vintage one in my pocket. Since early 2004 I have been the co-ordinator of the Pentrace Snail List. Though I don't write to the other members of the list as much as I should I really enjoy this task. I'll be glad to send any tracer a post card that I had made (using my CW persona's name) that shows the Ohio Statehouse as it looked in 1896 - it still appears much the same except for the skyscrapers as neighbors.
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