Many readers keep cursive alive

Penmanship apparently is a passion for many Spokesman-Review readers.

Two solicitations for handwriting samples brought more than 400 responses in the mail, mostly from Inland Northwest residents sharing their own pen-on-paper work.

Several people sent in writing samples from their parents or grandparents, including an impressive one from a 98-year-old man.

People sent the requested sentence – “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” which uses every letter of the alphabet – and many also included notes about penmanship, their passion for the art of cursive and how they keep practicing what they were taught in school.

Here are a few of those comments:

• “Even in this technological age, I still write letters and notes to friends and family weekly.”

• “I don’t know how special my handwriting is, but I try to promote the art of the handwritten letter by writing someone every day.”

• “Recently my wife and I were in a class with a young man who was in a master’s program who struggled to read cursive writing or penmanship. Are we losing something?”

• “I remember spending hours in penmanship class in the 4th grade. I still enjoy receiving a handwritten note.”

• “I learned cursive writing in 2nd grade in 1967, and I’ve written this way ever since.”

• “My penmanship was better some years back. Wish it was still taught in school. A pen or a pencil is easier to carry than a computer.”

• “I didn’t inherit the great penmanship gene from my mom. She’s 89, still writes checks (doesn’t trust debit cards) and gets compliments everywhere she leaves a check.”