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With pen in hand, practice imperfect

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published January 22, 2006

I'm not sentimental about holidays and the clogging of our national calendar with days to honor everyone and everything.

But this year, I'm taking time on my computer keyboard Monday to observe National Handwriting Day, to honor penmanship, the beauty of pen and paper and the handwritten word.

With this observance, I'll try to speak up for those like me who have endured a lifetime of shoddy penmanship, those who look enviously at the written communications of others and wish that they could write legibly.

The day, Jan. 23, is celebrated to honor John Hancock. As historians tell it, after Hancock picked up his quill, with immaculate strokes and curves, he endorsed the Declaration of Independence with a handwriting that would inspire pen pushers for centuries, then he said, "King George can read this."

Sponsored by Writing Instruments Manufacturers Association, based in Mount Laurel, N.J., National Handwriting Day has been held annually since 1977 to alert the public to the importance of handwriting, stress the benefits of handwritten communication, promote good penmanship and encourage legible handwriting.

"The focus that was once placed on the importance of handwriting has changed with the times," Robert B. Waller Jr., executive vice president for the association, said in a news release.

To honor the day, the trade group wants us all to write more personal handwritten notes.

Being a lefty, I've been told all my life that I was using the wrong hand. I suffered the teasing of my classmates through elementary and secondary school as I slanted and twisted my exercise books and contorted my arms and body in a vain attempt to keep my words between the lines. Even in kindergarten as my classmates wrote gracefully on lined paper, my words always lacked beauty, uniformity.

Etched into my memory are my teachers' stern faces as they repeated the strokes, lines and curves of letter formation, ever ready to enforce their instructions with a leather strap or wooden ruler.

In college I suffered largely in silence. Back then, taking notes by hand in class hadn't been supplanted by a laptop and a keyboard. My low point came during my senior year. My political science professor entered class with a batch of test papers. After a brief lecture and discussion, he returned all the graded papers except two, which he said were illegible.

"I want to see two people after class," he said.

My heart sank immediately. He hadn't even looked in my direction or called my name. But I knew I was on that blacklist. My best instincts didn't lie. He returned my ungraded paper with a curt command to see him after class.

For those with lousy handwriting, living in a computerized age worsens our shortcomings. It masks our penmanship inadequacy. We type more because it allows us to write less; and the less we write the worse our handwriting grows, because we lack practice.

Time is equally unkind. Fingers no longer used to the rigors of holding a pen quickly cramp whenever required to do any extensive writing.

Despite my lack of success, I have never given up. I'm always on the lookout for the pen with the right tip that would elevate by scribbles not into calligraphy, but something clearly legible. During a trip to London a few years ago, I went in search of quality stationery and fountain pens. I vowed to become one of those people who sent thoughtful, well-written notes to friends and relatives.

I tried, but top quality pen and paper don't guarantee great penmanship. But this year, in honor of John Hancock, I will continue my quest. Perhaps, one day I'll finally learn to write.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 22, 2006, 01:01:11]