"In October 2003, I was having lunch in a small London restaurant with Jim Marshall, when he came up with an inspirational idea. Why don't you write a book on the Parker 51 ? I could not have imagined that four years later I would be completing a trilogy of books on three of Parker's most significant pens.

I started to write the Parker 51 …. Progress was slow at first, but I soon realized that I was in an ideal situation to undertake the task. Firstly, I had an enormous collection of Parker 51a and a lifelong passion for the pen. Secondly, I lived in Brighton, which is about 10 miles from Newhaven, the current home of the Parker Pen Company; and more importantly, the repository of the Parker archives. Dave Ruderman, the Parker Director of Heritage Products, had rescued the collection from Boston, USA, and arranged to have it brought back to England. Thirdly, my son Mark, fresh from academic studies, had a six months window before starting his first job. He provided the energy to kick-start the whole enterprise. Finally and crucially, my wife Teresa, is a graphic designer with many years experience in book design. Her flair and imagination were vital in translating my ideas into a user-friendly book.

Dave Ruderman allowed me access to the archives at Newhaven and encouraged me with my research without quite realizing what I would produce. Late in the day, after seeing the page-proofs he decided that the Parker Company should be involved. He suggested that we invite Geoff and Steven Parker, grandsons of Kenneth Parker, to write a foreword for the book. I can still remember my trepidation when I met them for the first time at the 2004 Chicago Pen Show. What would they think of my
efforts? I was pleased with the results but would they warm to a complete 'newbie' author and an Englishman, writing the history of an iconic American pen. I need not have worried as they could not have been kinder or more receptive. They made a few suggestions to the text and readily agreed to write the foreword. Fortunately, the book was well received and the Parker Company asked me to write a further book, this time about the Duofold. It was a much more daunting task as I knew little about the history of the pen and owned few Duofolds.

I wrote the Parker 51 book almost single handed and owned practically all the examples shown in the book. This method had several advantages and many disadvantages. It did not take me long to appreciate the benefits of a collaborative venture and I approached Dan Zazove to assist me. He readily agreed, but only on the basis that we eventually write a book on the Vacumatic.

Geoff Parker's contribution to the Duofold book was much greater than his foreword. He allowed us to use extracts from his Grandfather's personal diary.
This was an invaluable help as it enabled us to corroborate important historical facts and details. He also provided, hitherto, unseen family photographs. Finally, he gave us access to the correspondence between George Parker and Frank Lloyd Wright. This input helped to bring the Duofold story to life so that it became more than a catalogue of memorable artefacts.

And so now, keeping my promise to Dan we have the Vacumatic book. The purist might suggest that the books are written in the wrong order, which, of course, they are. Logically, we should have started at the beginning and traced the history of the Company up to the present day. But, as I explained earlier, I originally thought I was only going to write one book, about the Parker 51. in fact, events could not have worked out better.

The Vacumatic book has three authors and has been a most enjoyable project for all of us. We have attempted to bring some order out of the chaos of the Vacumatic story. None of this would have been possible without the benefit of the access to Kenneth Parker's journal, which Geoff has so generously provided. The diary covers the period from 1928-38 and has supplied fascinating insights to life as Janesville during that time. Dan has an encyclopedic store of knowledge and information about the history of the company, which has made a perfect fit to Geoff's personal family memories and even more photographs. Dan also happens to own more Vacumatic pens than are present in the Company archives.

This volume has worked as an excellent bridge between the first two books in the series. For many people a job at Parker was a job for life, so their working lives spanned the Duofold, Vacumatic and 51 eras. Working with Geoff and Dan, it has been possible to expand the contributions various employees made to the respective stories, in particular Philip Hull, whose memories have been extremely helpful.
In 2001 he finished writing about his 49 years at Parker. He was motivated by a feeling of personal indebtedness to the Parker Pen Company, the extended Parker family and his own family, who all helped to foster his career. He epitomized for me the type of person who helped to make the company what it was. Some of the events were of personal importance, but of little value to the company's history; some were amusing, others sad; and some were extremely important to the evolution of the pen industry.

So, settle down for a roller-coaster ride with the Parker Pen Company and the Vacumatic."