A third memory is of penmanship lessons, scheduled occasionally during the year. These were special occasions, because first there was a session of endlessly putting pencil to lined buff-colored paper ...

Unlike probably most people, I enjoy the act of writing by hand — but I’ve always disliked signing my name. Why is that? I think it’s because signatures are supposed to be in cursive, or else they don ...

When I was an elementary school student in the Boston public schools, we learned cursive handwriting, also known as penmanship, starting at about 3rd grade. We had inkwells in the ...