Lessons in Printing
A printer’s daughter explores the decline of her father and of his craft of letterpress printing
In the middle of her college years Klancy de Nevers' father began to hear voices. Her reaction to his breakdown was not what you would expect from a “well-brought-up” girl. At a time when housewives waxed floors, ironed sheets and washed woodwork, the mentally ill were often warehoused, or tranquilized and sent home to fend for themselves. Shielded by her mother from the reality of his condition, de Nevers willingly looked away, and didn’t mourn when he died. In Lessons in Printing, exploring evidence carefully preserved by her family, she revisits her father’s life and reconsiders her own responses. The result is a meditative memoir, a journey from scorn to compassion, from guilt to forgiveness.
Now available at The Kings's English, Weller Book Works and Ken Sanders Rare Books in Salt Lake City, UT and from the publisher, Scattered Leaves Press.