Book Review: Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting by Kitty Burns Florey

Script and Scribble is a book about taking your time. But, if you’re in a hurry, read the last chapter first, “Is Handwriting Important?,” for a true appreciation of why handwriting is still relevant. Then, wander back to the earlier chapters.

If you suffer from pen lust, as I do, you’ll find yourself thinking “me too, me too” when the author extols the mind-hand connection when we write with a pen – a good pen, perhaps a Mont Blanc or her romantic attachment to an Esterbrook fountain pen.

But when it comes to our "real" writing, we are mostly slaves to the keyboard. In fact, Burns Florey says, keyboarding is generally taught in schools now, instead of handwriting instruction.

Most school children are typing on keyboards at the age when we were still sniffing the 64-pack of Crayola crayons. But children do need to learn to write longhand, and they still need time to think while writing. Handwriting holds the key to our innermost thoughts

The author and I are of the same generation. When learning penmanship in third grade, she recalls: “Something about the low-key creativity, the reach for perfection, and the repetitive mental numbness appealed to me….” I would add an appreciation for the simplicity of slow, focused concentration, which is often lacking in our fast-paced electronic lives today. Reading Script and Scribble took me back to my own third grade experience when I asked my mother how long it would take before I could write as fast as her. "It takes practice," she said. To encourage me, she tolerated my speed-scribbling at the kitchen table, even pretending it was legible.

Script and Scribble is rich with history and provides fascinating research into a realm of communication and thought-processing that may soon disappear.

Are pen lovers living on the “planet of nostalgia,” as the author suggests? Other than writing grocery lists and signing credit card slips, when do we use a pen anymore?

Article Author: Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher reviews non-fiction books and shares insights when attending author and publishing events on Chicago's North Shore. She is a national speaker on technology, writing and publishing. She's a member of American Society of Journalists & …

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