Say it with me now: Selectric. Se-lec-tric. Say it aloud! Isn’t it a beautiful word? If it wasn’t only the celebrities that named their children after inanimate objects like Apple and Blanket, I might consider naming my firstborn son Selectric.
To me, there has always been something mysteriously romantic about typewriters. After spending an afternoon rifling through my grandfather’s belongings, I emerged the proud inheritor of his 1970’s typewriter. If it didn’t weigh more than me, I would cuddle with it in bed at night. I love it that much.
Which is why I knew instantly that I was going to love Tuesday night British Literature History with Dr. Steven Walker. In order to add the class, Dr. Walker had to give me a special code that allowed me entrance into his class, even though it was technically at max capacity. He told me that I would find an envelope containing the code outside his office door with my name on it.
My name was typewritten on the front of the envelope.
For those of you who don’t understand the significance of this simple gesture, allow me to paint a character sketch of Dr. Walker for you.
He is an old man. I mean this earnestly. He walks in a slightly crooked, jovial sort of gait. Sometimes, when his eyebrows betray any sort of emotion—delight, surprise, dismay, you name it—the wrinkles caused by his eyebrows remain for several minutes long after his eyebrows have said their peace. Yet, Dr. Walker is still as quick as a fiddle. He memorized the entire class roster before ever having met his students. He can still tell you the exact dates that William Blake went to art school. He could probably recite from memory the novel, Great Expectations, from start to finish if you asked him.
Dr. Walker displays all of the wisdom of age with none of the arrogance. With all of his brilliance, he has probably been to the edge of the universe and back. He has written novels, and discourses, and lectures.
And yet, his wrinkly, experienced hands of wisdom humbly took an envelope, wove it through (I imagine) the classiest of IBM Selectrics, and punched out my name on the front of an envelope.
I love him! I just found out he is my English department adviser. I may just have to make some appointments for no reason. Every week.
Ps- You captured him excellently. Excelsior!
Took this class from him. It rocks. Love that man. 🙂
Cormic McCarthy still writes every novel on a type writer. Once, someone convinced him to sell it, so he did for lots of money, gave it all to charity and then went to an antique store and bought the exact same one. 🙂
Oh, you took me back to my high school business classes complete with shorthand, accounting, and, you guessed it, typing – with an IBM Selectric. There were NO computers in the building at all. That shows how old I am for sure. I wish I could take a class from your professor.
I love him. I love you. And I love that you love typewriters.
I remember when selectrics were the absolute hottest thing out there & I was so lucky to have one at work! It was amazing. You could change fonts, merely by opening the typewriter, removing the metal ball and inserting a new ball that had the font you wanted on it. The whole process took no more than 10 minutes. Magic!
Dr. Walker is an awesome man and an interesting teacher. Enjoy!
If you name your son Selectric, I'm naming my daughter Groupon. Say it: Grou-oo-pon.