The Making of Marcel’s Letters
Recently I was interviewed by book development editor Jill Swenson. It was a delightful interview with questions about music and typography and legal issues. You can check it out here.
Recently I was interviewed by book development editor Jill Swenson. It was a delightful interview with questions about music and typography and legal issues. You can check it out here.
The book cover has been finalized! I’m delighted with the final product and am grateful for the work of the cover designer, Erin. I’ve heard people remark they like it; that it has “shelf-appeal.” What people may or may not understand by quickly glancing at the cover, though, is that it has specific design elements that work hard to tell its story.READ MORE
Quirky, heartfelt, and compulsively readable, Marcel's Letters is an inventive combination of memoir and amateur historical sleuthing. An unforgettable story.
– Theresa Kaminski, author of Angels of the Underground: The American Women who Resisted the Japanese in the Philippines in World War II
February 15, 1945
My dear young men:
A card to you from not too gay Paree. But it is a beautiful city filled with beautiful women, beautiful buildings, beautiful stores, everything beautiful, no Frenchmen, and a lot of G.I. soldiers. I wish you both could be here to enjoy it. I wish I could enjoy it, too, but I am too busy with my work. Some other day, maybe
— Dad
I’ve made many fonts but none of them has a story with as many unexpected discoveries and emotional turns as the story of Marcel.
– Mark Simonson, designer of more than thirty fonts, including the iconic Proxima Nova, Mark Simonson Studio
I was surprised, but delighted, that my translator could read this writing. To me, it almost looks like shorthand! But, she continues to work miracles.
The question was posed as a curiosity, and I speculate the person who asked expected that after hemming and hawing for a polite amount of time, I’d provide some kind of easy, definitive answer.READ MORE
Typically I’m interested in handwritten letters, but this typed letter portrayed such a touching moment I had to buy it. The brothers’ reunion actually made me a little teary-eyed. I hope you enjoy reading it!READ MORE
Dec 24th (1943)
My dearest,
You must be in bed by this time. It’s 8 o’clock here (12:30 A.M.) in Laurel [Mississippi]. I’ve been thinking of you constantly today. Today, of all days, we should be together and yet we’ve lots to do before we can start our life together again.READ MORE
Dec. 24, 1943
Dearest Mother and all,
I have been expecting to get a letter from you the past few days but so far no luck. READ MORE