As I sit here at my desk, the sound drifting through my screen door is of this man (my neighbor) putting an old IBM Selectric through its paces. It’s so great to hear the sound of an actual typewriter. When I moved in six years ago, his wife told me that typewriter repair was a dying business. I was surprised that it wasn’t already dead. But there are enough Selectric fanboys (libraries, insurance offices that use triplicate forms, weirdo writers) to make it worthwhile to keep a garage full of parts. And of this I am glad.
i have an old electric typewriter that i found. i think it just needs a new ribbon. someday i hope to be among the ranks of the weirdo writers.