My Typewriter is in the Smithsonian. My Words Are Not.

My typewriter is in the Smithsonian. Well not my actual typewriter. But I had the same model as this one. The venerable Olivetti Lettera 32.

Mine was stolen, taken from my locked truck in Balboa Park sometime in the early 1980s. Within a few years, it became obsolete, so no great loss, I suppose. Still, I miss its touch. I miss its blend of positive affirmations and inevitable errors – equal parts risk and reward in one beautiful, sleek machine.