People sometimes ask me when I got my first typewriter or where I got my love of typewriters in the first place. The answer is that they were always around in my childhood, thanks to this guy pictured above: my grandfather, Frank M. Woolner. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, typewriters were quickly becoming an outdated technology. So, to look at me a lot of people find it surprising that I don’t remember exactly when I first used a typewriter. My grandfather wrote for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for years and years, and in his basement office (of the house we shared with my mother) he had at least two desk models and the Royal Quiet DeLuxe pictured above. The Royal he received as a gift just before joining up to go fight the nazis in WWII. Here he’s pictured, as in many very silly snapshots from this era, jokingly taunting the enemy, this time pointing his most valuable weapon at them: his portable typewriter. It’s one of my favorite photos of him, and captured a spirit that I think runs deep in our family.
