Pen World Article on Elizabeth

The Right Person
Elizabeth Spinks-Bunn works with
Dahlia Johnson and Sally Cox.
F
in the
ahrney’s calls itself “the write place
since 1929.” For many, that means
Fahrney’s is the right place in downtown Washington, D.C., to buy writing
instruments, paper, ink and other pen
accessories. It is also the right place to
go if your pen is acting up and needs a
little attention. For others, “the write
place” has added meaning—for them,
Fahrney’s is the right place for learning new writing styles or improving
handwriting skills.
Write
Even in this time of instant messages, texting, tweeting, electronic signatures and other computer age conveniences (or nuisances, depending
upon how you view it), at Fahrney’s
there is a person who believes there is
still a need for people to practice beautiful handwriting. She not only talks the
talk; she handwrites the write. For
some twenty years, Elizabeth SpinksBunn, who is on staff at Fahrney’s, has
been a practitioner of the art of fine
Place
BY PHILIP J. ROSS
handwriting. Over the past few years,
she has been passing these skills along
in classes held at Fahrney’s.
Her fascination with fancy handwriting goes back to a holiday-time
assignment given by her third-grade
teacher, Mary Catherine Brake. Each
student was told to write a thank-you
poem to give to his or her parents.
Spinks-Bunn created hers using her
best block-style printing. The next step
in her budding career came later that
from left—Collage featuring the poem
Spinks-Bunn wrote for her parents in
the third grade and some of the
handmade Valentine’s Day cards she
creates for Fahrney’s customers;
student Dahlia Johnson displaying her
work; student Sally Cox (opposite)
perfecting her letter forms.
same year when she was judged to have the best cursive
handwriting of all the third-grade students in her school.
The teacher later asked her to do the lettering and maintenance for a bulletin board chart displaying all vocabulary
words learned by her class.
Spinks-Bunn was lucky to have her talent noticed
early and to have it ignite a real interest that has grown
over the years. She was doubly lucky that her teacher, Miss
Brake, encouraged her to develop that skill, which SpinksBunn often refers to as “beautiful handwriting,” and did
not put the brakes on! Her teacher’s influence lives on
every time Spinks-Bunn creates a new handwritten product. It is not surprising that her mother often told her that
her handwriting actually looked like that of Miss Brake,
her inspiration and mentor.
Since taking on that first inspiring assignment,
Spinks-Bunn has created many handwritten pieces,
including personalized wedding and special occasion cal-
ligraphy as well as work for the Library of Congress and
various political organizations.
In teaching fine handwriting to others, she perpetuates the inspiration of a teacher whose guiding hand
proved so important and life defining for her. Prior to
becoming Fahrney’s in-house handwriting teacher, she
taught calligraphy for an adult education program and
also gave private lessons. She has been Fahrney’s resident
calligrapher since 2005. Her handwriting program at
Fahrney’s includes courses and workshops in italic calligraphy, italic calligraphy for the holiday season, cursive
handwriting for children (third through sixth grades) and
cursive handwriting for adults. The last course may sound
sort of remedial, at least it did to the author, whose cursive “and” looks more like “ad” or “unnd” or even worse.
Thinking of my sometimes-tortured longhand scrawl as I
wrote the first draft of this article with a vintage Sheaffer
Snorkel fountain pen—filled with quality ink from
Catch It!
Catch a class, that is, with Elizabeth Spinks-Bunn!
Sept. 10–Oct. 1
Learn the basics of italic handwriting. Class meets on
four consecutive Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fee of $160 includes all materials.
Nov. 12
Handwriting clinic for adults meets 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Fee of $40 includes all materials.
Nov. 19
Workshop for addressing holiday cards meets
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.—bring your own cards to address.
Some italic writing experience required.
Fee of $40 includes all materials.
Class sizes are limited, so early registration is
recommended. All classes are held at Fahrney’s,
1317 F Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Call 202.628.9525 for information or to register.
2012 Schedule will soon be released, please call for
details.
Fahrney’s—I realized many of us could benefit from remedial handwriting training.
In addition to teaching handwriting classes at Fahrney’s
and being a member of its retail sales force, Spinks-Bunn
maintains a seasonal tradition at the store. Every year, customers who purchase a Valentine’s Day gift at Fahrney’s
receive a handmade greeting that she designs and creates.
Prior to the Valentine’s Day rush, she prepares Valentinerelated quotes or short poems in calligraphy on card stock.
Customers, after making their purchase, choose which
design they like and then Spinks-Bunn personalizes the
card and envelope with the gift recipient’s name.
Spinks-Bunn has plans for even more personal development and course offerings, including adding more artwork and perhaps watercolor to her own calligraphy. She
also would like to expand her class offerings at Fahrney’s
to include an italic calligraphy class for kids. After all,
wouldn’t it be wonderful if Elizabeth Spinks-Bunn turned
out to be some fortunate kid’s Miss Brake?
In connection with the approaching holiday season,
Spinks-Bunn will again offer her workshop on addressing
holiday cards. This one-day workshop focuses on helping
her students add some flair to holiday correspondence by
addressing cards in the italic writing style. Interestingly, her
students sometimes also suggest additional class offerings.
One of them—a student who has attended numerous
Spinks-Bunn workshops including the holiday cards workshop—suggested that the instructor offer a course in
Spencerian script, a form of calligraphy that dates back to
the 1800s. Don’t be surprised if you find that course offered
in the future, as well as a cursive handwriting handbook for
adults—another Spinks-Bunn project on the burner.
While so many forms of communications are now
depersonalized, many of us wish to connect more closely
and nothing is more personal than handwriting. I know
this to be true, since I’ve always loved my wife’s beautiful
handwriting, even if it is on a to-do list! Therefore, if you
ever want (or need, in some cases) to improve your handwriting or learn new handwriting skills, Elizabeth SpinksBunn is definitely the right person to be in touch with at
Fahrney’s—“the write place since 1929.”
PHILIP J. ROSS practices law in Washington, D.C., and
collects political memorabilia, autographs and presidential
and other writing instruments. All photographs for this
story are by the author.
Copyrighted material originally published in Pen World
magazine, Volume 24, No. 6, October 2011.
1317 F Street, NW
Washington, DC
Tel: 202-628-9525
M-F 9:30-6:00 • Sat 10:00-5:00
Catalog Orders: 800-624-7367
www.FahrneysPens.com
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