Cover | Page One | Page Two | Page Three | Contents | Links | Contact

Issue # 115 / 6 March 2009 // Links

Photographs
 

Catherine Roberts Leach

Fountain Pens

A vintage pen and my paper journal,
vetted for obscenities.

Yes, I love fountain pens; love is the word I used. And Sigmund Freud might have had something to say about that, but remember that Freud also said, "I'll have another hit of cocaine." In German, but that's what he said. So who cares what he might have said about anyone loving fountain pens?

Yes, so when I buy fountain pens (and I do) and have the nibs modified (and I do that too) I tend to buy from Classic Fountain Pens in Los Angeles or Richard Binder of Richard's Pens in Nashua, NH.

Paper

I also like paper, the kind that's good for fountain pens. Moleskine isn't. (Mol-uh-skee-nuh iz-uhnt). No matter their claim that all famous writers and artists have used Moleskine notebooks (mol-uh-skee-nuh node-buks) and that if you don't use Moleskines you can't be any good.

There are several good sources of paper:

Papéterie Nota Bene in Montreal.

Pendemonium in Fort Madison, Iowa.

And Field Notes Brand in Chicago. I've tried several pocket notebooks, including dread Moleskine (dred Mol-uh-skee-nuh) and the much hyped Rhodia and prefer Field Notes Brand even though they sell ball-point pens. (Perfection is elusive.)

And please note that all testimonials on this page were unsolicited and that I was not compensated. I mean, do I look like I was compensated?)—BL

Cover | Page One | Page Two | Page Three | Contents | Links | Contact