My Name in Print
Title
My Name in Print
Identifier
MY_NAME_IN_PRINT
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"I just picked up a book that was reserved for me at the Brookline Public Library."
Date
2016-01-26
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Text
MY NAME IN PRINT
I just picked up a book that was reserved for me at the Brookline Public Library. The way we retrieve reserved books is a comparatively new system, and it does not involve library personnel. The requested book is held for you in a special section, arranged alphabetically by the name of the requester. A 3” x 5” slip of paper with your name in large bold letters, is inserted in the book. I am not sure why, but it makes me feel good to see my name in print sticking out of the book.
I remember a conversation I had with a friend Irving Weinstein, who, like me, wrote stuff. All kinds of stuff: political pieces, letters to the editor, stories, essays, poems, personal observations. He asked if I wrote because I had something to say, or because I liked to see my name in print. I had never thought about it. So I began to think about it, and had to conclude: both.
My first experience seeing my name in print attached to something I wrote was in junior high school. Each semester the school published “The Knowlton Herald,” our literary magazine. It was a wonderful publication, and it was really published by the students. Everything! We had a print shop and the students set the type, did the illustrations (linoleum cuts) and, of course, wrote all the material. I wrote a story and a couple of poems for the Knowlton Herald, and at the bottom of each piece was my name in capital letters: JACOB SCHLITT. In high school, I even managed to get a piece into the Stuyvesant High School Caliper.
Taking pride in seeing my name in print wasn’t limited to identifying me as an author. I got a kick out of seeing my name listed on the program given to the attendees of the commencement ceremonies when I graduated from junior high, high school and college. And on each occasion, I proudly accepted a diploma with my name inscribed in fancy script. When I had my own phone for the first time, I was thrilled to see my name in print in the Bronx telephone directory.
As time marched on, I saw my name in print on business cards, on letterheads, and on plaques which were placed on my desk. Sometimes there was a title that went along with the name: Organizer, Representative, Director, Administrator. I recognized that the name (and the title) were there not so much to make me feel important, but to let people know who they are dealing with, and who they can complain about, if they have a problem.
Many years ago, an office furnishings retailer had an ad campaign with the line: “A name on the door deserves a rug on the floor.” I don’t know how many rugs they sold as a result, but it gave me pause. I now had my own office. I didn’t have my name on the door, but I did have it on my desk, and the person in the adjoining office (who had her name on her desk) had just put down a lovely oriental rug. I found a colorful print in an art gallery and hung it behind my desk. I was the director of a Federal Regional Office, and we issued reports. I was identified in those reports as the regional director. My name was in print again.
I once had a letter to the editor of the NY Times published. I was amazed at the response I received. People I hardly knew congratulated me. Not for the content, but because they saw my name in the NY Times. I had made it. I have written several other letters to the NY Times but none was printed. It is much easier to get letters to local weekly publications printed. Far fewer people read them. It doesn’t have the same cachet. I think the Brookline Tab and the Jewish Advocate and the Jewish Journal are pleased to get them. They can use the copy. Write something and we will print it, and your name. You will be famous.
Recently, I heard about a quarterly publication called “Back in the Bronx.” It is filled with reminiscences “…of growing up and living in the Bronx.” Since so much of what I have been writing is about my growing up and living in the Bronx, I contacted the publisher. He asked me to send him a few of my pieces. I sent him two. He said he liked them, but they were too short. I beefed one up, and a couple months later, he called me to say my “reminiscence” about “A Haircut in the Bronx” will appear in the Fall 2015 edition. He sent me a copy, and there it was, on page 17, with photographs, and beneath the title, “By Jacob Schlitt.”
1-26-16
I just picked up a book that was reserved for me at the Brookline Public Library. The way we retrieve reserved books is a comparatively new system, and it does not involve library personnel. The requested book is held for you in a special section, arranged alphabetically by the name of the requester. A 3” x 5” slip of paper with your name in large bold letters, is inserted in the book. I am not sure why, but it makes me feel good to see my name in print sticking out of the book.
I remember a conversation I had with a friend Irving Weinstein, who, like me, wrote stuff. All kinds of stuff: political pieces, letters to the editor, stories, essays, poems, personal observations. He asked if I wrote because I had something to say, or because I liked to see my name in print. I had never thought about it. So I began to think about it, and had to conclude: both.
My first experience seeing my name in print attached to something I wrote was in junior high school. Each semester the school published “The Knowlton Herald,” our literary magazine. It was a wonderful publication, and it was really published by the students. Everything! We had a print shop and the students set the type, did the illustrations (linoleum cuts) and, of course, wrote all the material. I wrote a story and a couple of poems for the Knowlton Herald, and at the bottom of each piece was my name in capital letters: JACOB SCHLITT. In high school, I even managed to get a piece into the Stuyvesant High School Caliper.
Taking pride in seeing my name in print wasn’t limited to identifying me as an author. I got a kick out of seeing my name listed on the program given to the attendees of the commencement ceremonies when I graduated from junior high, high school and college. And on each occasion, I proudly accepted a diploma with my name inscribed in fancy script. When I had my own phone for the first time, I was thrilled to see my name in print in the Bronx telephone directory.
As time marched on, I saw my name in print on business cards, on letterheads, and on plaques which were placed on my desk. Sometimes there was a title that went along with the name: Organizer, Representative, Director, Administrator. I recognized that the name (and the title) were there not so much to make me feel important, but to let people know who they are dealing with, and who they can complain about, if they have a problem.
Many years ago, an office furnishings retailer had an ad campaign with the line: “A name on the door deserves a rug on the floor.” I don’t know how many rugs they sold as a result, but it gave me pause. I now had my own office. I didn’t have my name on the door, but I did have it on my desk, and the person in the adjoining office (who had her name on her desk) had just put down a lovely oriental rug. I found a colorful print in an art gallery and hung it behind my desk. I was the director of a Federal Regional Office, and we issued reports. I was identified in those reports as the regional director. My name was in print again.
I once had a letter to the editor of the NY Times published. I was amazed at the response I received. People I hardly knew congratulated me. Not for the content, but because they saw my name in the NY Times. I had made it. I have written several other letters to the NY Times but none was printed. It is much easier to get letters to local weekly publications printed. Far fewer people read them. It doesn’t have the same cachet. I think the Brookline Tab and the Jewish Advocate and the Jewish Journal are pleased to get them. They can use the copy. Write something and we will print it, and your name. You will be famous.
Recently, I heard about a quarterly publication called “Back in the Bronx.” It is filled with reminiscences “…of growing up and living in the Bronx.” Since so much of what I have been writing is about my growing up and living in the Bronx, I contacted the publisher. He asked me to send him a few of my pieces. I sent him two. He said he liked them, but they were too short. I beefed one up, and a couple months later, he called me to say my “reminiscence” about “A Haircut in the Bronx” will appear in the Fall 2015 edition. He sent me a copy, and there it was, on page 17, with photographs, and beneath the title, “By Jacob Schlitt.”
1-26-16
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “My Name in Print,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 23, 2025, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/408.