My mother, Sylvia Plath and QWERTY...

My mother was a demon typist. I had no idea of that until she volunteered to type our school magazine in the Jes long ago. She could touch type at speed. I don't know how quickly she could type but I think she claimed about 60 words per minute. The keys clacked metronomically, the bell dinged, and the carriage was sent flying from left to right with a whack of her left hand. I remember Tommy Allen and I standing mesmerised beside her as the pages filled up with our words.

She was a stenographer who knew Pitman shorthand and, possibly, Gregg. She put all these skills to good use at Ireland's Department of Defence in Parkgate Street in Dublin, a job, incidentally, that she had to leave upon her marriage in 1955.

I came across the New York Times article above and was surprised that, having lived, worked and socialised in the Cambridge area for years, I hadn't come across the Cambridge Typewriter Company. It's certainly the end of an era for owner, Tom Furrier, and his loyal customers. Surprisingly, and hopefully, some of his customers are young. As can be seen from the excerpt below, Sylvia Plath may have had an influence from beyond the grave.

And, just like that, yet another relic of the past shuffles off the stage. Thanks, Tom Furrier, for resurrecting memories of my mother and her unhidden wizardry, seated comfortably at the typewriter, turning ideas and words onto paper...