Other Than Editing by Diego Pineda

Barry (Barnett) Kramer makes his edit- in green. I’ve never Barry Kramer: ing marks with style. Editor-in-chief of seen anyone editing the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in green, and then I An Editor with (JNCI) and director of the Office of Disease saw you there editing Prevention at the National Institutes of a manuscript in green, Great Health (NIH), Kramer is an avid col- and I wondered if it lector with superb . was you.’” “Many people will say”, Kramer says, Besides the three “when they see my and find out that in his pocket, Kramer I am a physician, ‘this just can’t be’, because has about 40 costly lim- Barry Kramer they have never seen physicians who write ited-edition fountain legibly.” He says he didn’t have perfect pens and also 150 less-expensive fountain handwriting as a child, but in later years pens. He keeps some of them in a safe and he got interested in and bought some in a display case. “My father was a very some books on specific styles of handwrit- handy woodworker”, he says. “His hobby was ing, finally improving his handwriting. woodwork, so when he was alive he built me Kramer’s calligraphy and penmanship are a display case with a glass top, and I keep a closely related to his fascination for fountain number of pens there. The case itself is one pens. Since third grade, when he received of my most treasured possessions.” his first Esterbrook , Kramer Kramer has to keep up also with his has been collecting them. “I particularly various positions as an editor, physician, like fountain pens”, he says, “but for years I and researcher. In addition to being edi- have also collected advertisement ballpoint tor-in-chief of the JNCI, Kramer is editor- pens—for restaurants, or gasoline stations, in-chief of the PDQ (Physician Data Query) or opening of stores. When I was in junior of Cancer Screening and Prevention, an online high school, my father gave me a Parker 21 database that weighs evidence on cancer fountain pen, and when I got my first real screening tests and in primary cancer pre- paid job, I was able to afford a fountain pen vention. “My personal research is in cancer with a gold .” screening, which I still conduct in coopera- Kramer says each fountain pen has its tion with the staff of the NCI”, Kramer says. unique personality; each writes differently. As well as being director of the NIH Office He always has three fountain pens in his of Disease Prevention, he directs the Office pocket, each one with a different color of of Medical Applications of Research within : blue, black, and green. “Friendly blue that office. for accepting manuscripts, black for reject- Despite his busy career, Kramer finds ways ing manuscripts, and green for the day-to- to enjoy fountain pens, going to lunch a day editing”, he says, “but it is a distinctive couple of times a week at the mall so he can green so I know it was I who edited the stop by the pen shop. One Christmas sea- manuscript. That has been sort of a trade- son, he even worked there during the week- mark, to use green for manuscript editing.” ends. “I volunteered a few times [to work at The green-ink trademark revealed a pen shop]”, he says, “but for one season, I his identity when he was editing a book worked in a pen shop as a salesperson, and manuscript on a flight to a meeting of the that was a lot of fun. I was at an advantage American Society for Clinical Oncology. knowing a lot about fountain pens, but I “I was on the plane, making edits”, Kramer didn’t know nearly so much about ballpoint says, “and the person sitting right across pens. I had to learn a lot on the job about the aisle from me said, ‘Are you Barry the different ballpoint pens.” Kramer?’—I never met the person—and I Kramer knows not only about pens but said ‘Yes, how do you know?’ And he said, also about pen history. A conversation ‘Well, because I am one of the authors of with him can range from the interesting the book you are editing and I got back facts and anecdotes of the invention of your edits a few weeks ago, and they were writing instruments to the technicalities

32 • Science Editor • January - February 2004 • Vol 27 • No 1 Other Than Editing continued of pen manufacturing and the “personality all on paper; so 99.9% of all the editing I do of fountain pens”. “The heart of the pen is is with a fountain pen.” the nib”, Kramer says. “Every nib is hand- In his large collection of fountain pens, ground and hand-tipped with iridium or Kramer has some favorites that he uses another very hard metal, such as rhodium, frequently. “I basically have six pens that I to keep the midpoint from wearing down. really, really like a lot, and I go again and Since it requires such intricate hand work, again back to them”, he says. Fountain every nib has its own personality; and you pens appeal to him in various ways, but he can tell, generally, which nib is going to be particularly assesses the quality of the nib, a supreme writer and which nib is going to the smoothness of its writing, the flow of be scratchy or a troublemaker or very hard the ink, the pen’s beauty, and its balance to break in.” in his hand. Kramer’s broad knowledge of pens reflects More than ink, Kramer’s pens carry a one facet of his personality: his passion for deeper meaning. “All [my pens] have a learning. Susan Rossi, deputy director of the provenance”, he says. “You know why you Office of Medical Applications of Research, bought the pen or when you bought it; if who works with him, says, “Whenever Barry it was handed down to you, you remember decides to become knowledgeable about a how you acquired it, who must have been topic, whether statistics or fountain pens, writing with it. Even if you buy a used you can count on him to dive into the sub- pen at a pen show, you can imagine who ject with great energy and a willingness to might have been writing with it and what roll up his sleeves and work hard at under- they might have written, well before your standing the topic inside and out.” lifetime. So there is an emotion that is tied Rossi says that, as a researcher, Kramer is up in the pens. I treasure those that people very clear about the fundamental principles would dig through their drawers to find and of good science and adheres to them with then say, ‘You know, my grandfather had great conviction. “This attribute comes in this pen, now it is yours.’ So it is an emo- handy for his editorial responsibilities as tional treasure.” well”, she says. As might be expected, Kramer rarely edits DIEGO PINEDA prepared this profile while a on the computer. “I am really a paper edit- Science Editor intern. He is now a writer at ing person”, he says. “At the journal, I do it The University of Texas Medical Branch.

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