Umberto Eco on the dying art of handwriting

When I was an elementary student, my initial handwriting was exemplary. Beginning about in fifth grade, it began to deteriorate, largely as a result of practicality; it simply took too much of my time to be precise about loops in my 'R's and such. Then I (twice) fractured my writing hand rather badly in athletic events, the second time with some nerve damage involved, which affects me still. Now, even I have occasional trouble deciphering my handwriting. My signature is a tracing of the flight of a butterfly in a field of clover.

But I type the way Albert Pujols hits a middle-of-the-plate fastball.

Phoenicians wrote with wedge-shaped styluses in blocks of soft clay. Nordic folks carved runes in hard stone. What they recorded is far more significant than how they recorded it. Words are more important than the physical style of representation of words.

caw

blacbird said:

When I was an elementary student, my initial handwriting was exemplary.

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Mine was abominable, and still is today. To make up for it, I became a four finger typist.

Back in old PS 81, they didn't use letter grades -- they had four categories each month:

S[SUP]0[/SUP] for "outstanding," S for "satisfactory," N for "needs improvement", and finally, the dreaded NR.

The only NR I ever received was in penmanship (which apparently is no longer taught) NR stood for.........NOT RESPONDING.

aadams73 said:

It's funny this should come up today, because earlier I was thinking what a shame it is that we no longer write letters to one another the way we used to. I used to have a box filled with letters from friends and family. I used to keep love letters tied with a ribbon. I used to pin postcards to my cork board.

Now I have emails. And while they don't mean any less to me, there's something about holding another person's words in my hands that I miss.

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This exactly. I used to write to pen pals and have kept most of those letters. I now use email with the friends I'm still in touch with and recently discussed with one of them our current lack of tangible letters. I love letters, and good mail (not bills!). There's just something special about a handwritten letter.

Last summer I had a guy who was 'courting me by letter' which was, I'll admit, romantic and thoughtful, but there was no chemistry there on my part. Still, it was nice to think someone had taken the time to write to me instead of merely phoning or tapping out a quick email.