Editing The Pen Addict 568/transcript (section)

== Growing up in East Germany ==


'''Frank:''' Yeah, I grew up in Germany, but in the eastern part, in East Germany. So, I was born 1976, and as you might be familiar with, Germany was divided by that time. And I was in the Russian zone of Germany, which was called East Germany back then. So, yes, of course, 46 years ago, there was not so many digital stuff around us. And yes, we learned in school how to write properly by hand using fountain pens, which was quite an exercise back then. It did not used to be the biggest law of life in school for me. But they taught us handwriting, which is a skill that got lost for a couple of years in school systems. And luckily, it came back, I think, around six, seven years ago when my son went to school. He had to write with a fountain pen as well, which I think is really great because, as we all know in this community, it's not only a beauty of writing experience, it's scientifically proven that there's a connection between your brain and your hand when you write with a pen. And the fountain pen is the one that makes you write slowly so you can learn better. It has many advantages to learn it that way.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, and I love always hearing about how prevalent the fountain pens and the handwriting are, especially in a lot of European countries as opposed to America, where we'll learn handwriting and things like that, but not with fountain pens. And I've always appreciated that fact that not only did you do it when you were younger, your son's now doing it now, probably to a little bit lesser degree than you did it. And are they as frustrated with the fountain pen as you might have been when you were younger? Or do they have a special fancy fountain pen that you allow them to take to school?

'''Frank:''' No, actually, he has just a normal pen from the supermarket.

'''Frank:''' And there was no special thing. He's saving up on a material he's in love with to make one on his own in my workshop one day. He's 11 now, not quite patient enough, but he's got a nice collection of materials some pen makers would be jealous of.

'''Frank:''' Put aside for the day to come.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I love hearing that. I love hearing that. So, you and I are of a similar age, similar eras. And I know that Elbwood's only started a few years ago, which means you probably had a career long prior to this. Is that fair to say that you were going to get into the founding and the start of Elbwood and everything? But what were you doing prior to starting this fountain pen thing?