Last night, standing under the stars in my yard, leaning against the hood of my truck where a stood cat purred over my shoulder, I had a great telephone conversation with the legendary Kentucky letterpress printer Gray Zeitz, proprietor of Larkspur Press. I know a lot of letterpress printers and have many wonderful friends in the trade, but I have to admit that Gray is hands down my favorite. The youthful hustle and bustle of busy urban printshops and publishing houses certainly have their appeal, but I consider Gray’s little creek-side workshop the true hub of cultural life in America. Here, Gray handsets and prints the works of Kentucky writers (like Wendell Berry and Guy Davenport) and issues them in a beautiful and affordable editions. Its the real deal. In celebration of Larkspur Press’s 40th year, Gray asked the Cincinnati bookbinder Gabrielle Fox to collect reminiscences of the press from various of its authors and collaborators, as well as to assemble a bibliography of the press’s books. I was pleased when Gray asked me to design and produce that volume for Larkspur here at Gaspereau Press. Typical of Gray, there are no deadlines associated with the commission, but the materials have now arrived on my desk and last night (after comparing weather, discussing the deer hunting seasons and exchanging the gossip) Gray and I had a great talk about the project. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Larkspur Press to release it under its imprint next fall, marking the first official collaboration between our presses. Watch for it! This PBS video clip gives you a pretty good view of the shop. (The music is all wrong, though: it should be bluegrass!) Those letterpress printers who suffer from equipment snobbery should note what he is printing with: inexpensive Chandler & Price clamshell presses, not an overpriced Vandercook cylinder, Heidleberg Windmill or vintage iron platen presses. I like good gear as much as the next guy, but we make too much of it and forget that quality actually resides in the eye, the hand and the mind of the craftsman; you can do good work with a knife , a plank and the back of a spoon if that’s all you have to work with. The C&P clamshell is a fine press if you take the time to learn how to print on them, and the work Gray produces on them is second to none.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 14:48:04 +0000
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