When writing instructor Fred Durbin assigned his students to type letters to Tom Hanks on vintage typewriters, he hoped to teach them about deliberate writing. What he didn’t expect was for the Hollywood star to personally respond to every single letter.
“Everyone who wrote him a letter, he responded personally and carefully to the actual content of their letters,” said Durbin, who teaches at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School near Pittsburgh.
Student Makela Ciminella received a typed note that read: “I have horrible penmanship which is why I type. Thanks for the letter. Tom Hanks.” Another student, Sarah Cowan, got a response saying: “Glad you took the time to type me a note. Took only a minute or so, right? But it might last for 500 years.”
Elena Cable admitted she was “pretty ashamed” after receiving a reply to her letter about Hugh Jackman. “I kind of wrote to him about Hugh Jackman,” she laughed, explaining her embarrassment at writing to one actor about another.
Durbin’s typewriter assignment reflects a broader renaissance of the vintage writing machines, which are experiencing unexpected popularity across the country. At his school, typewriters have become the centerpiece of an entirely analog classroom designed to change how students approach writing.
“Today, we think with our fingers, we try something, we put it on the screen and if we don’t like it, we make a change,” Durbin explained. “With a typewriter, you’re thinking more in your head, you have to form that sentence and then you can commit it to paper.”
The author and typewriter collector, who owns a 1918 Oliver model among others, convinced department head Dan LeRoy to support the initiative as a way to draw students away from their digital lives.
“Virtual reality doesn’t just mean wearing a set of funny glasses, it means that you spend all day in a reality that you curate, that you cultivate, and you spend less and less time in the physical world,” LeRoy said. “A typewriter forces you to be present in the physical world.”
The analog approach eliminates digital distractions entirely. “You can’t check your social media. You can’t scroll. You’re just writing. Typewriter just has one purpose,” Durbin said.
The typewriter revival extends beyond classrooms. At Gramercy Typewriter in New York, technicians have been busy repairing vintage machines that never truly disappeared but were simply stored in attics and basements. Recent celebrity endorsements have fueled increased interest, particularly after Taylor Swift posted herself writing lyrics on a typewriter and featured one prominently in her “Fortnight” music video alongside Post Malone.
Hanks, who spoke to correspondent Lee Cowan in 2017, is a well-known typewriter enthusiast with an extensive personal collection. Hanks has long championed the machines’ appeal.
“The sound of a typewriter is the sound of productivity,” Hanks has said, calling one machine “a fine, manly typewriter” and noting that typewriters “got man to the moon.”
For Durbin, Hanks’ personal responses to his students proved the power of thoughtful communication. “We try to teach kids that writing is like a superpower,” he said. “If you can reach for the stars and a really big star reaches back, what can’t you do as a writer? Where else might your words end up?”
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