Among the nightmares that haunted printers during hot-metal days was the specter of the instantaneous destruction of hours of work. Printers called it pieing type. When it happened, it was equally instantly accompanied by a barrage of non-deleted expletives. Bob Shaw remembered pieing stories in his marvelous book Life In The Back Shop. One of them was recounted […]
Author Archive | Mike Coughlin
From carnivore to vegetarian to vegan
Carrot Seeds by Kathy Coughlinhttps://www.letterpressbookpublishing.com/product/carrot-seeds/ The transition from eating meat to learning how to be a vegetarian was a slow process, but it worked and for a few years my family adjusted to the new menus I introduced to the dinner table. I had grown up on a southern Minnesota farm where I was intimately […]
Rudolf Rocker: A Memorial
Dedicated to Rudolf Rocker and his great book Nationalism and Culturehttps://www.letterpressbookpublishing.com/product/the-dandelion-issue-14/ When Rudolf Rocker died in 1958, the world lost a remarkable historian and social critic, and a marvelous story teller. He stepped out of obscurity in the early 20th Century to become a leading figure in anarchist circles around the world, but with his […]
How to become a successful children’s book author?
Writing a book for children can be daunting, as those who have attempted it can testify. You have to know your audience, you have to write so that you not only hold their attention but so you will draw the reader back time after time to enjoy your story. And, often, you first have to […]
Don’t mash your co-workers
Years ago I worked for a trade association whose boss was a recovering alcoholic who seemed to enjoy the art of smashing people. Now, he didn’t always do it, but often enough to let each of us realize he was the top dog. I think about him from time to time, but basically try to […]
A Robinson Jeffers broadside bonanza
I have been silent for a few weeks, and for that I apologize. I have had a heavy load of book work and, to top that off, I was presented with a treasure-trove of broadsides printed by my friend Linomarl Marlan Beilke who asked me to offer them for sale. Most of the broadsides he […]
How hand sewn books add to the beauty of your work
By Mike Coughlin on June 7, 2017 in Letterpress poetry books, News about Letterpress Printing, Self Publishing the letterpress way
When finishing the hand binding of a single signature book, a decision must be made where to tie off the knot: inside or outside of the cover. On the outside, the knot and the extending thread will be immediately visible. If tied off at the center […]
Robinson Jeffers lives through these recently uncovered broadsides
Years ago two Californians crossed paths–one a writer and the other an old-time printer–and together they immortalized each other. The two are Robinson Jeffers and Marlan Beilke. Last summer Oak Knoll Press published His Place for Story: An Annotated Robinson Jeffers Bibliography compiled and written by Michael Broomfield. Charles Simic described the book as a “A marvelously […]
When letterpress was king! A look back through the eyes of Otto Boutin’s great book
Sometimes I chance upon stories that fascinate me and today was one of those days. In my “spam” folder–why it ended up there I have no clue–I found a copy of Mark Michelson’s column in the on-line version of Printing Impressions. It’s about Otto Boutin’s captivating book Otto’s Night Watch. Michelson reproduces there “Love Letter to an Old […]
Thirty-five words that explain so much about life
When I happened upon a quote one day many months back, I realized I had to know more about the man, Antione de Saint-Exupery, who had penned it. My research revealed that he was a rather amazing guy. This French author, pilot, journalist and aristocrat was born in 1900 and died forty-four years later when […]