I was reading a news report that talked about the teaching of cursive writing in our schools today. The article said that many schools teach cursive writing in the first three grades and then switch to “keyboard skills.” It made me wonder as I have met young people who could not sign their name but only printed it. I am old enough to remember the Palmer Method of cursive writing. I remember some of the letters, such as a capital Q, made no sense to me as a youngster. In that method, the capital Q looked very much like the number two. The Palmer method was replaced by the Zaner-Bloser method in the late 1950s early 1960s.
Today I use the computer for my personal correspondence. It takes something away from the handwritten form. When I read a letter in cursive writing, it was very much like listening to jazz. There was a basic rhythm or structure to the letter, but each writer embellished it with their style. When I was in the Army, my wife’s letters were filled with rounded forms that very much reminded me of her. I had a good lawyer friend, and his letters were full of exact handwriting, with every T made with top of the T being a precise straight-line of the same length on every T. His handwriting reminded me of military marches. I always thought of John Philip Sousa marches reading his letters.
It is sad to lose that extra dimension from a handwritten letter.
