This typewriter has been through wars and through weather and through power outings, and it was with me on death row, and it’s an old, beat up Swintec. So, I’ve had it for like 25 years. It has mothered some of my best work. I used it to write the first drafts of several of my books. But you ever hear of the saying from Timex. “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking”? You’re probably not old enough to remember that. Guess what? This typewriter, an old, beat up Swintec, has taken it. It’s died at least three times and come back to life. It’s been dropped, kicked around, held in storage for years, while I was in the hole. And when it was a flood, here in Mahanoy, it took the brunt of that. When there was a power outing while I was on death row, it scrambled the onboard computer and whenever I tried to type, you know, nonsense words would come out.
And I tried to buy a new one at least twice. I would fill out the cash slip for commissary, and something told me to, you know, before I turned in the slip, to just check the typewriter, and it came back to life several times. Its power cord was fractured, and so the power would be intermittent. I learned how to twist the cord and hold it a certain way and put the typewriter on my knees and just go to work [laughter]. It has taken many lickings and kept on coming back. And finally, like all things in nature and in machines, I guess, it died. So, it did a lot of work. It has seen better days, but it did a lot of fantastic work under great pressure. So, at this late date, an RIP for a great typewriter. Thank you. Swintec 1. Signing off. With love not fear. This is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
