Paul Smith – typewriter artist and inspirational human being
Yesterday we learnt a little bit about the extraordinary typewriter art of James Cook, a young man in his late twenties based in London in the UK. (Click here if you missed it.)
In one of his interviews, James said that he was inspired to investigate this hobby by the incredible story of another typewriter artist born over 100 years ago.
Paul Smith was born with cerebral palsy in 1921 in Philadelphia, America. (Cerebral palsy is a group of conditions that affect movement and posture, and may impact on muscles, control and other physical factors). As a result of his disability (particularly 100 years ago), Paul wasn’t expected to live very long. But with indomitable spirit, he went on to live a long and productive life till he was 85.
His inspiring story and incredible achievements is well told in the following article and is well worth reading.....
When you consider that typewriters from 100 years ago were heavy, clunky and not at all easy to use, and that Paul could only use one finger, his work is even more remarkable. You might like to look at the detail of Paul’s creation of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris shown below:
JLM