I love German blackletter and have recently started hankering over a pre-war blackletter German typewriter (what is blackletter you ask? think heavy metal fonts but actually Luther and Gutenberg)
What a delightful, touching piece. Your Dad has such a handsome, intelligent face, and looks so kind. His life was tough but maybe he didn’t see it that way. Anyway, I suspect he’d be very proud of you. But he’d have been proud of that dog handler too!
My dad was a Geography teacher and his Olivetti typewriter is somewhere in the loft it's stuccato sounds punctuated my childhood. I guess I might need to take it down and see if it still works.
Thank you Donald, I appreciate you saying so. Hope you’re well. I saw the name “Balintore” recently and immediately thought of “the Balintore hold” on the puggy machine in the pub near our flat.
Hello, Kenny. I really enjoyed your piece and was pleased that your typewriter discovery helped you fill in some spaces of your childhood and rekindle memories of the influences, known and unknown that your parents held and hold in your life. I have recently known something similar and your piece resonated warmly with me. A couple of years ago, I received my dad’s RAF cap. He flew Halifax bombers during the war and survived 32 missions. Along with extracts from his flying log I began to look again at what he did and who he was and became. I have since written a few pieces about that and hope to bring them together for my children and grandchildren to give them a glimpse into moments small and big that shaped my early life. It’s important that they are not lost. Thanks again for your lovely piece.
Here is me using an old typewriter. A photo I use in https://olbunny.substack.com/p/how-could-i-forget-my-ears header. I love the chatter of the keys and I find I make fewer mistakes using an old fashioned typewriter than a computer keyboard. On the latter I tend to type faster because I know it will auto-correct me.
The stories we tell ourselves usually have a grain of truth in them, and in their retelling there is every chance we learn something new about ourselves and others we have known. As an octogenarian I am constantly repeating myself, invariably a little differently every time.
Enjoyed that Kenny, many parallels - odd kid Dundonian, same age, depressed on Saturdays at Tannadice, lost my Dad early and Mum has dementia, in same home as yours I think!
Thank you for yet another thoughtful and interesting article - like you there are so many questions I now wish I had asked my Mother.
You never really appreciate how little time you have until it’s gone.
Another great article - also so many questions for grandparents and parents that can't be answered.
Sad but true.
Well done Kenny, lovely story.
Sorry to learn about your mum.
As an ex Timex toolmaker, I appreciate your acknowledgment of how skilful a job it was. I think I was the world’s worst toolmaker.
Thanks Brian, that is kind of you. She is doing well at a lovely home in the Ferry and retains her sense of fun.
This was gorgeous. A great piece of writing. K x
Cheers, m’dear. Much appreciated. x
I love German blackletter and have recently started hankering over a pre-war blackletter German typewriter (what is blackletter you ask? think heavy metal fonts but actually Luther and Gutenberg)
Excellent niche item on which to write scary letters to the cooncil.
Blackletter makes such a handsome page, ideal for all art forms
What a wonderful piece. Emotional reading. Thank you Kenny.
Thank you most kindly, Charlie.
What a delightful, touching piece. Your Dad has such a handsome, intelligent face, and looks so kind. His life was tough but maybe he didn’t see it that way. Anyway, I suspect he’d be very proud of you. But he’d have been proud of that dog handler too!
Heehee, thank you. I occasionally think I took the wrong path!
Excellent piece Kenny. I now also understand where you get your dashing good looks from!
😆
That's a lovely piece Kenny.
My dad was a Geography teacher and his Olivetti typewriter is somewhere in the loft it's stuccato sounds punctuated my childhood. I guess I might need to take it down and see if it still works.
Thank you Cat. Do it!
This is a beautiful post, Kenny.
Thank you Donald, I appreciate you saying so. Hope you’re well. I saw the name “Balintore” recently and immediately thought of “the Balintore hold” on the puggy machine in the pub near our flat.
Ah, the Balintore hold. Never worked...
Hello, Kenny. I really enjoyed your piece and was pleased that your typewriter discovery helped you fill in some spaces of your childhood and rekindle memories of the influences, known and unknown that your parents held and hold in your life. I have recently known something similar and your piece resonated warmly with me. A couple of years ago, I received my dad’s RAF cap. He flew Halifax bombers during the war and survived 32 missions. Along with extracts from his flying log I began to look again at what he did and who he was and became. I have since written a few pieces about that and hope to bring them together for my children and grandchildren to give them a glimpse into moments small and big that shaped my early life. It’s important that they are not lost. Thanks again for your lovely piece.
That sounds like a fantastic project, David. Interesting how a physical object, like your dad’s RAF cap, can be a touchstone.
Thanks for this article.
A pleasure, John.
Great piece, Kenny. I wish I’d kept more of my childhood ephemera…
Cheers, brother. Every single thing I throw out I later regret.
Here is me using an old typewriter. A photo I use in https://olbunny.substack.com/p/how-could-i-forget-my-ears header. I love the chatter of the keys and I find I make fewer mistakes using an old fashioned typewriter than a computer keyboard. On the latter I tend to type faster because I know it will auto-correct me.
The stories we tell ourselves usually have a grain of truth in them, and in their retelling there is every chance we learn something new about ourselves and others we have known. As an octogenarian I am constantly repeating myself, invariably a little differently every time.
A good piece.🐰
That’s a lovely old typewriter!
Enjoyed that Kenny, many parallels - odd kid Dundonian, same age, depressed on Saturdays at Tannadice, lost my Dad early and Mum has dementia, in same home as yours I think!
Thank you Gregor. That is a lot of similarities! Make sure to say hello if our paths cross in the Ferry.