cast of characters
JEREMY MAYER
Jeremy Mayer is an Oakland, California based sculptor who exclusively uses typewriter parts to make life-scale, anatomically correct human figures. The sculptures are not soldered, welded, glued, or built by any other means than by cold assembly of typewriter components. Born in the 1970's, he sees himself as in between two worlds, the old and the new, trying to come to terms with the technological and societal transition between the pre- and post-internet world. jeremymayer.com
MARTIN HOWARD
For more than a quarter century, Torontonian Martin Howard has been building his renowned collection of antique typewriters. The collection contains many rare and historically important typewriters from the 1870s through to the early 1900s that demonstrate the astonishing inventiveness of early typewriter design. His quest to find rare and important typewriters will continue to take him on many adventures, which Howard believes is one of the great pleasures of being a collector. Howard also sells antique typewriters to enthusiasts and collectors all over the World. antiquetypewriters.com
KEN ALEXANDER & HERBERT PERMILLION III
Ken Alexander was born and raised in Richmond, California. He began his career as a typewriter repairman in Berkeley in 1975 and has been working at California Typewriter for the past twenty years repairing manual typewriters.
Originally from New Orleans, Herbert Permillion III hails from a long line of jazz musicians. Herb was raised in Berkeley, California and began work as a repairman for IBM in the 1960s, taking care of all the typewriters on the UC Berkeley campus. He bought California Typewriter the same year Apple released the Macintosh Computer. californiatypewriter.com
SILVI ALCIVAR
Silvi Alcivar received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction writing from The Pennsylvania State University and earned a BA in English and Women’s Studies from Cornell University. She has performed her work on stage and radio throughout the San Francisco Bay area, where she’s been living since 2007. As The Poetry Store owner and poet/artist, she writes and sells custom poetry in three forms: on-demand, as jewelry, and as art. The Poetry Store was featured in The San Francisco Chronicle and Daily Candy SF named The Poetry Store one of the top ten best new finds of the year. thepoetrystore.net
THE BOSTON TYPEWRITER ORCHESTRA
The Boston Typewriter Orchestra is a collective endeavor which engages in rhythmic typewriter manipulation combined with elements of performance,
comedy and satire. BTO aims to entertain the masses while providing an outlet for the creative urges of its members. The band consists of: Alex Holman
(Underwood 5), Jay O’Grady (Olympia SM9), Giordana Mecagni (Hermes Ambassador), Brendan Quigley (Remington & Smith Corona), Christopher Keene (Underwood). bostontypewriterorchestra.com
richard polt
Richard Polt is the creator of The Classic Typewriter Page. For over twenty years he has been pursuing his love of the typewriter as a collector, blogger, magazine editor, repairman - and frequent typist. Polt teaches philosophy at Xavier-University in Cincinnati, Ohio and has written about and translated works by Martin Heidegger. His bestselling book, The Typewriter Revolution is available in bookstores and online. typewriterrevolution.com
darren wershler
Darren Wershler is the Concordia University Research Chair in Media and Contemporary Literature and the co-founder and co-Coordinator of the Concordia Media History Research Centre. He conducts most of his research with the MHRC and the Technoculture, Art and Games group, an interdisciplinary centre that focuses on game studies,design, digital culture and interactive art. Darren is the author or co-author of 12 books, including “The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting” (Cornell University Press) and most recently, Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg (U of Toronto Press). alienated.net
