For Pen Lovers: Son of the Return of the Inkograph

So, back in December I posted about my favorite old fountain pen (an affection shared by author Joe Haldeman among others)—the Koh-i-noor Inkograph, which was modeled on a Rapidograph technical pen, but had a funky tip that wrote at virtually any angle and was a pleasure to work with. Article came with a photo of that old crusty Inkograph. Lo, this month, while clearing out some old boxes, I stumbled upon the never-used Fine point version: the extra pen that I’d bought as Koh-i-noor retired the line, back around 1976.

I have since hunted around on Ebay and pen shows, but nobody seems to have any of these anywhere. All the Inkograph listings seem to be for less-appealing earlier models of the pen. And, boy, do I wish I’d bought a dozen of them when they were being discontinued… In any case, here’s a glimpse of one of the strangest fountain pens ever designed, with its original packaging and insert.
Inkograph fountain pen–gf

 

P.S. A followup, courtesy of Poe scholar Edward Pettit: An article that answers why pencils are yellow, and where that “Koh-i-noor” brand originated: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-little-known-reason-pencils-yellow

Dennis Tafoya and Edward Pettit: Writing & Books & Mystery

This week’s Oddcast, the last recorded at the Philadelphia Writers Conference, features Liars Club member, novelist Dennis Tafoya, author of such tremendously well-wrought novels as The Wolves of Fairmount Park and The Poor Boy’s Game; and Liars Club associate, Edward Pettit, Philadelphia’s specialist on Edgar Allan Poe, and now programming director for the Rosenbach (pronounced “Ro’-sen-back“, which everybody gets wrong) Museum, where you can see original manuscripts and materials by Bram Stoker (they have “Dracula” in manuscript form no less) and Joyce and even Maurice Sendak. A freeform discussion about writing and books and mystery.

Dennis Tafoya & Ed Pettit

Oddcasting from the Philadelphia Writers Conference

Our second Oddcast from the PWC includes interviews with author/photographer Sally Wiener Grotta, who speaks of how writers can secure grants; screenplay-developmental editor James Breckenridge, who tells us what he does in helping people develop their screenplays; and members of the South Jersey Writers Group (one of the largest regional writing groups we know of), who confirm the usefulness of “community” in writing…just another week of being Odd on the Oddcast.

Liars Club Oddcast logo