Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen!
My name is John Bowdle. I am an adjunct instructor in the Humanities at Tulsa Community College and a shorthand enthusiast. I lament the passing of this functional and artistic form of writing and am wondering why McGraw-Hill has seen fit to all but kill the product that made them a name in business publishing. They also acquired the right to Speedwriting in the U.S. and have all but killed that as well.
I learned to write Gregg Simplified while in high school (1964) and college and have studied the Anniversary, Diamond Jubilee, Series 90, and Centennial editions of Gregg. I taught Speewriting and SuperWrite alphabetic systems for Continuing Education at Tulsa Community College. I am also familiar with AlphaHand and Stenoscript.
I can’t seem to get interested in Pitman, but am very interested in learning the theory behind machine shorthand.
I would love to talk with all of you and answer any of your questions that I am qualified to answer. I look forward to hearning from you.
John Bowdle
PS The “Gregg ovals” appear by McGraw-Hill’s name on the back of my Humanities textbooks. My students were surprised when I explained to them what this symbol stood for. They thought it was an atomic symbol!
(by ttownbigbear for everyone)
It is quite a pleasure that you have joined us!
I would be quite happy to learn y'up on machine shorthand if you want a quick description of the method. The whole concept of being able to execute two different sets of alphabets on just 21 or so keys total makes it a worthwhile study.
I believe the Gregg ellipse insigne goes back all the way to those old Gregg speed contests at the turn of the century or maybe farther. Its meaning, I suppose, would be that the entire system of Gregg shorthand is based on its derivation from the two ellipses and some straight lines in the same directions. Ellipses are pleasant to the human eye, and very natural to write. The Pitman system, however, is based on the perfect circle, which is unnatural and geometric.
Thanks for joining the group!