The Pen Is Mightier

Horrified by the war in Ukraine, artisan pen makers across the globe are using their skills to make a difference.

- NICKY PESSAROFF

The special edition Jason Neil Penworks Tucker fountain pen at left in the colors of the Ukrainian flag helped Jason Miller (right) raise more than $2,000 for UNICEF for Ukraine and created a blueprint for activism that other artisan pen makers have followed.

What do you do when you watch a tragedy unfold before your eyes on a pixelated screen? As bombs fall in a country halfway around the world, as a nation's sovereignty is challenged, as we watch carnage from the comfort of our homes, what do we do with that sense of impotent rage and grief? It's a question many artisan pen makers asked themselves as they watched the army of the Russian Federation invade Ukraine, which began on February 24 and still continues at the time of printing.

Jason Miller of Jason Neil Penworks, who lives in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, decided to make a pen: “It really came from feeling frustrated with not being able to do anything of value to help the people suffering in Ukraine. The Saturday after the invasion, I woke up and realized there was absolutely something I could do with the audience and influence I have on social media.”

So Miller made a fountain pen. He chose his Tucker model, named after his grandfather, Neil Tucker. The fountain pen features the Tucker's simple, tapered design with a translucent barrel of Goldenrod Glass acrylic from The Pensmiths (shopthepensmiths.com) and a cap of McKenzie Penworks YInMn Blue DiamondCast (mckenziepenworks.com) in honor of the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag. Nibmaster Kirk Speer of Pen Realm (penrealm.com) promised a custom nib grind at no cost for the eventual owner of this cartridge/converter/eyedropper-filling fountain pen.