Thought it about time to let everyone in on my life. I was born in 1950 in good old Brooklyn, NY. When I was about 11 I became fascinated with those old plastic BIC retractable pens and accumulated a whole box of them. Little did I know that this was foreshadowing, and that the latency of this addiction would come to fruition years later.
Originally I graduated from Cooper Union with a Chem. Engineering degree, but the thing I learned most about Ch.E. at Cooper is how much I hated it, so I taught math and science in NYC schools until the infamous 1975 layoffs, when I lost my job because I didn't have tenure or a permanent license yet and therefore no seniority. So what was the logical thing to do? Go to law school and become a patent lawyer. I went at night, and actually got a teaching position again so I worked while I studied. I graduated in 1980. I was obsolete as a patent attorney, as I was out of engineering for too long, so I got a job with a landlord-tenant law firm and I'm still doing this almost 20 years later. It's a grueling in-court practice, and I've been telling people for years that you have to be a little crazy to do this kind of work or you go completely insane (which my wife knows about; she's a psychologist). But it beats sitting behind a desk doing paperwork.
Anyway, I've been married to the same woman for over 25 years (I told you I was crazy). Seriously, though, I think we're the only 2 people who would put up with each other, and do it happily. She works as a school psychologist in a school district in Suffolk County on Long Island (we moved to Long Island in '82). 2 great kids, a son 21 (senior at Rensselaer Poly. Inst.) and a daughter 17 (wants to study dance and "something else" in college starting next year), who both make sure I don't have enough money left over to buy pens. Oh, yeah, pens. Speaking of pens, I started using a fountain pen (stainless steel Noblesse) in '77, to improve my handwriting in law school (I'm lefthanded) and bought a few, but didn't really get heavy into this until about 4 years ago. Most of my collection (about 100 now) is modern but there's a growing number of vintage as well.
Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you, I work many days in a courthouse only a stone's throw away from FPH, the Mecca of the pen collector. I have gotten to know Steve, Terry, Harvey, Ed and the others quite well, and recently had the pleasure of having my picture taken by Harvey with their best customer, Bill Cosby. They blew it up to an 8x10 and Cos signed it for me with a nice note. My wife wants me to frame it. But I look horrible in it. If I knew how to attach a picture to this bio....I still wouldn't show it to you. That's how bad I look.
I hope this site stays around awhile, and that in a few years we can all update our bios with our experiences of the coming years.
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