It is exciting to share about the Postmarks & Paperbacks Book Club! In the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s E-Newsletter Monday, they were announcing their upcoming quarterly online event in September.
The book selection for the September 13th, 2021 program is Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate by Carolyn Porter (non-fiction).
“A graphic designer’s search for inspiration leads to a cache of letters and the mystery of one man’s fate during World War II”
September Book Selection
At the online zoom book club program, the author will be making a special appearance as a guest, being available for questions from program participants.
The 2017 hardcover is 352-pages. Goodreads gives it a 4.07 rating out of 5 from 839 ratings.
“Seeking inspiration for a new font design in an antique store in small-town Stillwater, Minnesota, graphic designer Carolyn Porter stumbled across a bundle of letters … beautifully expressive pen-and-ink handwriting. She could not read the letters—they were in French—but she noticed all of them had been signed by a man named Marcel … during the middle of World War II.
… Simultaneously, she continues to work on what would become the acclaimed P22 Marcel font, immortalizing the man and his letters that waited almost seventy years to be reunited with his family.”
I’m going ahead and ordering the book so I can keep it afterwards adding it to my collection of letter writing books on my book case in my study.
About the Postmarks & Paperbacks Book Club Meets Online Quarterly
With the upcoming program on September 13th, it is less than three weeks away. There is time for reading the book prior to the event; especially since there is the upcoming three-day Labor Day weekend.
Next, it is great reading a Postal Museum staff member leads each zoom book club. One can see other participants if they choose to leave their camera on helping with facilitating discussion.
I’m including this excerpt from the Smithsonian Postal Museum website page for it (bold added for emphasis)
“Postmarks & Paperbacks is an online book club for lovers of books, letters, and the art and history of communication. It meets quarterly to discuss postal-themed books, including a range of selections drawing from epistolary novels, popular history books about the USPS or philately, and novels in which letters, the post office, or stamps play a central role. We think you’ll be surprised and delighted by the range of books this encompasses, so dive in and read along with us as we explore these themes.”
In addition, the registration for the September 13, 2021 program is done at Eventbrite at this link.
Planning Ahead
I’m including this reminder the Smithsonian National Postal Museum is reopening on August 27th. It will be open Fridays through Tuesdays. Details are available here.
Furthermore, for planning ahead for future Postmarks & Paperbacks quarterly programs, they are already listing the January 10, and April 4th book selections. Both of those selections are fiction whereas September is non-fiction. It is worth noting though registration for those is not open just yet.
In conclusion, I love this is a free opportunity, participating with others in the online book club Postmarks & Paperbacks. I hope you’ll join me in participating in it. We can plan to keep our cameras on and wave at each other across the zoom room at the event!
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
AnchoredScraps #2119
P.S. On an aside, I’m cognizant with today being the 25th of August it means Christmas is four months from today! It is not too early to begin addressing Christmas cards, or at least start rounding up the addresses!
Attribution & Thanks to Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Goodreads, Eventbrite, links above
You may enjoy my previous AnchoredScraps blog post, April 8, 2017, Smithsonian National Postal Museum World War I Letters Exhibit
