The "Ah, the Aromatic Smell of Ink!" Story

It was an ordinary day. I had just returned with a negative from Parke Duing's place. Parke was a former student of mine who has a lithography business in Lancaster. He makes negatives and plates for printing firms that don't have the capability to do it themselves. In my case, I no longer can make negatives so I have him shoot my copy and give me a usable negative that I can use to burn a plate to run on the school's printing press. Parke is always accommodating and at times will have me wait while he pushes his other jobs aside and makes my negatives. Over the years I have grown to appreciate the many students who I had in my graphic arts classes who have entered the business themselves and give me the special treatment when I go to them. At least that is how I feel they treat me. A few days ago I called Bindery Associates where one of my former students is one of the managers. Asked the girl who answered the phone about having eight reams of paper punched with holes for inserting comb binders. She gave me a price of $80 and I told her I would try to do the job myself, since I was doing a class reunion job and was donating most of my time and couldn't afford the $80 price tag. As we hung up I told her, "Tell Tipton that Mr. Woods said Hi!" She told me she would tell him as we disconnected. A few minutes later I got a call from him and he told me to bring the paper over and they would do the job for free. See what I mean! I have been ordering paper from Lindenmeyr Paper Company for a few years now. The salesman is Joe Brody who was a student in my class. He always gets me the best price he can. Back in August I called and asked if the company could donate paper for the football program I was printing and they didn't even hesitate. 12 cases of paper arrived the next day. Wow! Two brothers who I have had in my class, Mike and Greg Steif, work at Intel Printing Company. Mike is the President. Marty Lind works at Graphic Crafts in Willow Street and when I needed something from his company, I always felt I was being treated special. Former student Scott Reighard has been the President of Acorn Press for years. I got many donations of inks and supplies from them for the classroom over the years. One of my student teachers, Dave Weaver, went to work for Scott instead of going into teaching. I still have Doug Zellem, who was a former student and is now the owner of White Oak Printing, make photos for me. Best price in town! See what I mean!! Now in this case, I found out that Doug has felt an obligation and a little guilt from high school because he took a book of hall passes out of my drawer one day and used them to travel around the school. A good friend of his told me that story. My two favorite former students, Derek and Tad, my sons, have stayed in the trade and both are pressmen for their respective businesses. I'm not sure when I will totally retire from the aromatic smell of ink. Maybe when I can no longer lift a case of paper or make the adjustments on the press. But then again, maybe I can get a former student to do that for me. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.