Saturday, November 11, 2006

more on EJ

I like to think EJ possessed a modicom of humility. I like to think he would not have objected to calligraphy and its teaching methods evolving beyond him. It reminds me of the founding fathers of my country: they thought the constitution would last only a hundred years or so and that it would then be scrapped and rewritten to suit the evolving country. Yet here we are, still clinging to that constitution, unwilling to evolve.

I have been reading EJ's book Formal Penmanship, complied by Heather Child after his death. In it he explains that formal writing went from Rome to Ireland, from whence it was passed along to England, and finally, from England went to the rest of Europe. Hmmm. I wonder how the Romans prevented it from prematurely spreading to their neighboring lands?

There are those who complain that some of us are not giving EJ the respect he deserves. Could that be me? Am I being disrespectful to even broach these matters?

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