A friend in need

Stan Pfeiffer, pen collector, multi-year host of the LA Pen Show, attorney and friend passed away on July 27. This weekend, at the Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow, raffles will be held to defray some of Stan's medical expenses from his lengthy illness and the damage to his house from a fire that nearly destroyed it. The drawings will be held at the end of the show on Sunday, August 12, and you need not be present to win. Raffle tickets are $5, and prizes include pens, ink, journals and hardbound copies of the Stylus Annual. Stop by the Shaw Pens table to purchase tickets throughout the weekend and to get more information.

Washington DC Supshow Seminar

On Saturday August 11, 2012 composer/musician/mutli-media artist and author Michael Kovacs will be giving the seminar "The Art of the Personal Letter: Keeping it Alive and Well in the Digital Age." The seminar will be held from 3 to 4 PM at the Washington D.C Fountain Pen Supershow, at the Sheraton at Tyson's Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Virginia. Kovacs will include such topics as: a Brief History of the Personal Letter, Basic Form and Structure, How to Improve One's Personal Writing Style, and Simple and EASY Tips on Making Your Own Stationary. Examples of good letters will be provided as well as free gifts to those who attend. "It is almost guaranteed that everyone who attends the seminar will come out being a better writer as well as having a new appreciation for the handwritten word," says Kovacs, who studied economics and music composition at Rutgers University. 

Chilton introducing new collection...

Two new Chilton pen collections will be released this August, one of which is the Stylewriter. It is available in three modes--fountain pen, rollerball pen, and ballpoint--and four colors: Spring Green, Fire Engine Red (shown), Royal Blue and Lemon Yellow. The fountain pen is priced at $50, the rollerball at $45, and the ballpoint at $40.  Chilton was founded in 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved to New York later in the decade. It ceased operation in 1943 and was revived in 2009 by Harpen Brands. Current collections include the Wingflow and Golden Quill collection. Follow the link for lots of great information about the history of the bran and a virtual peek at the pens. The complete Chilton collection will be shown at the upcoming Washington, DC, pen show in mid-August.

Coming very soon

Bexley is introducing its new Imperial International collection, making its debut at the Washington, DC, pen show, August 13-15. It has the same sleek and unadorned look of the Oversized Imperial, but it is .5 inch shorter--and less expensive at $189. It comes in three colors of acrylic (gray, burgundy and green), and it has a two-tone steel nib available in fine, medium or broad. An 18-karat gold nib is available upon request and, of course, for more money. There will be a rollerball added to the collection later in August priced at $169.