tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886792988995668775.post1592408669845543719..comments2022-11-11T05:51:12.306-08:00Comments on Lasting Impressions: J. Ben Lieberman and the Kelmscott/Goudy PressCarolehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02307495903453367329noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886792988995668775.post-33811433436532015662013-05-20T22:17:56.920-07:002013-05-20T22:17:56.920-07:00Richard, the flickr page that you reference is ma...Richard, the flickr page that you reference is marked private and can't be referenced.<br /><br />Bill Haddon<br />Kelseyville CA<br /><br />"My parents were in attendance the night of the big party welcoming the K/G Press to White Plains, and I thought you and your readers might enjoy seeing some memorabilia from that event:<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/78494106@N08/sets/72157629683614271 "<br />Bill Haddonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08043836178586643837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886792988995668775.post-51246281699148763442012-12-29T00:33:54.133-08:002012-12-29T00:33:54.133-08:00Richard:
>I don't know what became of Lina...Richard:<br /> >I don't know what became of Lina. <br />She and I married in 1967 and were divorced in 1976. Lina (now Sarah) lives in Marin County CA.Bill Haddonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08043836178586643837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886792988995668775.post-38859098876854557532012-03-27T17:26:02.037-07:002012-03-27T17:26:02.037-07:00Carole, what fun to stumble upon your lovely essay...Carole, what fun to stumble upon your lovely essay!<br /><br />I grew up in New York, and my father met Ben through business shortly after the war. The Liebermans became close family friends. Every Christmas season we visited them in White Plains, and Ben would park my sister and me at our own small presses, and let us crank out bookmarks, bookplates, and stationery until our arms got tired.<br /><br />On what must have been my twelfth birthday, A package arrived from Ben; an inscribed "Printing as a Hobby," as well as one of his small presses (with lead type). I confess I didn't play with it much since the junior high school I had just entered had an excellent graphic arts shop, so I gravitated toward the "real" presses.<br /><br />My parents were in attendance the night of the big party welcoming the K/G Press to White Plains, and I thought you and your readers might enjoy seeing some memorabilia from that event:<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/78494106@N08/sets/72157629683614271<br /><br />Oh, and Bill, if you're reading this, yes, Elizabeth worked for Knopff, and he was there that night, too.<br /><br />I know Jethro went on to become a respected Constitutional scholar and educator. I don't know what became of Lina. My father died in '67, and we lost touch with Liebermans not long after my mother moved to Phoenix in '70.<br /><br />Thanks again for the stroll down memory lane, and for motivating me to find that old file!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14268766293557613738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886792988995668775.post-18828955481471003262011-12-31T10:09:42.112-08:002011-12-31T10:09:42.112-08:00Thank you, Bill, for the additional information on...Thank you, Bill, for the additional information on Ben Lieberman. It sounds like you knew him well. He was a wonderful person and made such a contribution to the private press movement in the United States. I feel privileged to have known him.Carolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02307495903453367329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886792988995668775.post-74782979631473199732011-12-30T20:53:26.577-08:002011-12-30T20:53:26.577-08:00Ben's Stanford PhD Thesis, "Freedom of th...Ben's Stanford PhD Thesis, "Freedom of the Press" prompted him to invent the miniature press described in Carole's wonderful piece. To Ben, F of the P meant the freedom to actually own a press and print ones thoughts. The press was of high quality, contrasting with the only small press then commercially available, used by the Boy Scouts to earn the printing merit badge. The boy scout version used rubber type and produced documents of poor quality.<br /><br />While in graduate school, and perhaps after, Ben was the night city editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, where he developed friendships with noted columnists Stanton Delaplane and Charles McCabe among others.<br /><br />In White Plains Ben worked for General Foods, a job which he abandoned about 1965 to pursue multiple interests in printing, music and his "generic theory." Ben was a generalist in the age of the specialist. The UN became interested in dropping his small press into underdeveloped countries in Africa, and Ben had many friends at the UN promoting this idea. Hoping to finance his various ventures and adventures, Ben formed the "Popular Printing" Company about the time he published "Printing as a Hobby." Not surprising, the company never gained traction, and Ben returned to work as VP of Hill and Knowlton in New York. <br /><br />His 10th-floor apartment/home in West New York NJ had a fabulous view of Manhattan and was home for several years to the massive K/G press that Carole describes. So great was his interest in letterpress that the family cat's name was Etaoin Shrdlu, the lino-type equivalent of "qwerty." Ben (never J. Ben) counted Isaac Isamov among his good friends. <br /><br />Ben was an accomplished songwriter but sadly without an accomplishment. His musical play, destined for Broadway, never went past the small theater in White Plains. Ben had a great sense of humor and was wonderful to all of his family. I was married to his daughter in 1967 for 9 years. Our wedding gift was, you guessed it, a printing press, a 1920's Price and Chandler, which I still own. <br /><br />Elizabeth was a kind, wonderful person. In addition to compiling and publishing the Check Log for many years, she worked as a proof reader for a well-known publisher maybe Alfred Knopf.<br /><br />To accommodate is expanding library and the K/G press itself, Ben returned to Westchester County to New Rochelle and a much larger home. He died in mid 1980's.<br /><br />Bill Haddon<br />Talleyrand Winery<br />Kelseyville CA 95451Bill Haddonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08043836178586643837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4886792988995668775.post-15340466704646071392011-02-28T18:01:12.437-08:002011-02-28T18:01:12.437-08:00There seems to be a lot of kind folks in the world...There seems to be a lot of kind folks in the world of letterpress. How lucky you were to have experienced such things. I love the idea of having your own little printing press.Lynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05296300032567383021noreply@blogger.com