TypeTown #21: "The work is the reward: the kick of getting back to that typewriter."
👔 David McCullough, T. S. Eliot, David Koepp, and Phyllis Haver...
Hello, good day, and a warm welcome to all the new kids milling at the back. It’s good to see you.
A quick recap: TypeTown exists entirely because of California Typewriter.
So we start this week in the only place we can, with the passing of historian and author David McCullough.
“I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had a wonderful time doing what I do. That’s the reward. The work is the reward: the kick of getting back to that typewriter and digging in for another project. That’s what I love.”
The two-time Pulitzer Prize winner is a giant in modern American literature.
The topics of his books range from the Brooklyn Bridge to Harry S. Truman; from Teddy Roosevelt to the Wright brothers.
Two things marked each one as a McCullough masterpiece.
There was the elegance, intrigue, and captivating storytelling.
And there was the knowledge that each was crafted on his 1940 Royal KMM.
“I like the sound of it. I like the bell ringing when I get to the end of the line. And I like the fact that when I've finished my draft, I can take all my pages, find a nice comfortable spot in the shade under a tree out the back, sit down, and show the mug who wrote this stuff… how to put it into shape so that it might be seriously considered for publication.”
McCullough bought his typewriter in 1965 for just $25.
Despite daily use for more than half a century, the machine held firm. “There's nothing, nor has there ever been, anything wrong with it,” he said. “All I've ever had to do is change the ribbons. It's an amazing piece of American manufacturing.”
His writing took place in a shed at the foot of his Martha’s Vineyard home.
“If you were to walk by in the field behind there, and you looked in the window, you’d think: ‘well that guy’s just sitting in there daydreaming’. But an awful lot of the process is just thinking.”
It was also where his California Typewriter scenes were shot, with director Doug Nichol paying his own tribute.
McCullough’s work was recognised with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. He was also an accomplished narrator for film and television. But the typewriter was always his true home.
“My sons… say ‘you could go so much faster on a computer’. I know that. But I don't want to go faster. If anything, I’d probably be better off going more slowly.”
RIP David.
WATCH» David McCullough’s advice on living a good life - JFK Library
READ» David McCullough, Pulitzer-winning historian, dies aged 89 - The Guardian
READ» ‘History Is Human’: Remembering David McCullough - The Atlantic
READ» Remembering the Maine connection of historian David McCullough - News Center Maine
The waste land of long sentences
T. S. Eliot won the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature following three decades of poems, essays, and plays.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1888, he died aged 76 at his home in Kensington, London, almost 40 years after becoming a British citizen.
And he credited the typewriter as one of the greatest influences on his work.
“Composing on the typewriter, I find that I am sloughing off all my long sentences which I used to dote upon. Short, staccato, like modern French prose. The typewriter makes for lucidity, but I am not sure that it encourages subtlety.”
READ» T. S. Eliot, The Art of Poetry No. 1 - The Paris Review (1959)
READ» ‘Anything I Write Is Good’: Letters of T.S. Eliot- The New York Times (1988)
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David Koepp’s family tradition
What do the screenplays for Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible and Spider-Man have in common?
They were all written by David Koepp, a man whose extraordinary success stems from the introduction of a typewriter into his childhood.
“… the nuns at St. Anthony’s told me that my penmanship was so bad no one would ever be able to read it. (They weren’t wrong.) So, given a typewriter by my dad, I figured I should probably type something up on it.”
In 2021, he kept up the tradition, revealing his daughter’s favourite birthday present was this reconditioned Royal.
“Writing… was always just a wonderful place to park my imagination, and to settle scores.”
READ» Q&A: David Koepp, Author of ‘Aurora’ - The Nerd Daily
Worth pausing the platen
📬 What to Read: Neil Barraclough is tapping into typewriter history - Substack
📬 ‘Poetry Busker’ Hopes To Bring Joy, Connection Through Her Words - The Enterprise
📬 Last words on the typewriter - The Guardian
And finally… typewriters in the wild
In this still from 1929 film The Office Scandal…
In this sweeping image of a US mail order office in the early 20th century…
And in this video from Technology Connections…
Muchas gracias, amigos
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Until next time
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TypeTown is a fortnightly celebration of the typewriter’s place in modern (and not so modern) culture.
¡De nada, Neil! ¡Un placer!
Loved the post. Glad I learned to write before the computer was a thing. Typing was slower and writing with a pencil was slower yet. We've come so far in a circle - slow eating and slow stitching and I'll bet slow typing is next.