The Bookbinding Business Warms Up in Hot Weather
Wendy Stenner, 39, of Laguna Niguel was describing why warm weather is so suited to hand bookbinding, a business she virtually monopolizes in Orange County.
“You can’t artificially dry the glue,” she said. “You must wait for the sun to accomplish that facet of bookbinding.”
Stenner has been binding books since 1971 with the skill learned from husband Dieter Stenner, who was a bookbinder in Germany before becoming an engineer.
Because of the weather, the mother of four said, much of her work is seasonal and becomes strongest during the warmer months. “Otherwise,” she said, “it would take forever to get the job done” in a tedious operation that involves renewing worn book covers and pages by hand--a routine that commercial bookbinders avoid. She also uses handcrafted tools, the same used by ancient artisans to press, cut and paste damaged books to look like the originals.
Stenner, a former schoolteacher, says the lengthy process is “why there are so few of us,” noting that she knows of hand bookbinders only in New York and Seattle.
Her business evolved from word of mouth after friends saw the bookbinding skill she used on her own books, and to this day she has not advertised her trade.
Marvin Osburn Jr. of Laguna Beach, who hired Stenner to salvage some tattered, leather-covered books on California history, said, “I had to visit a number of stores that dealt in old books just to locate her.”
Most of the cost in binding is for labor, she said, adding that aside from glue that she makes herself, thread, ribbons and whatever book covering a person chooses, there is little else to charge. “Actually, it’s a pretty simple process that takes a lot of practice to learn.”
Professional people seek her out to recondition old religious books, medical volumes and historical novels, while families use her services for such keepsakes as children’s nursery rhyme books, sketch pads and loose papers they want bound into a volume.
Past binding and repair efforts have ranged from about $40 to well into the hundreds.
Stenner said she will remain a home operation, forsaking a walk-in store to widen her business.
“My aim is to be at home with my children,” said Stenner, who also dabbles in wood refinishing and stained glass windows, and recently helped her husband complete a two-story addition to their home. “I like working with my hands, you see.”
It was timely for Abraham Lincoln to show up at Anderson Elementary School in Corona del Mar just before the President’s Day holiday, even if he did arrive in a truck and pass out pictures of himself with Johnny Carson.
“He really gave a lot of historical facts and he really did look like him (Lincoln),” said teacher Diane Alexander, who opened the PTA-sponsored program for the students. “The children were really taken by him.”
Lincoln was played by schoolteacher-turned-actor Charles Brame, who bears an amazing likeness to the bearded 16th President, especially when outfitted in a top hat and long coat.
While Lincoln is best known for freeing the slaves, Brame told the kids it is also known that the president suffered chronic constipation and had bunions.
Honest, said Abe . . . er, Brame.
At age 9, fourth-grader Nicole Erickson of Fullerton can barely hold a basketball in two hands, but she has just won the Elks Club-sponsored California free throw championship in Fresno by tossing in 21 of 25 attempts. The Harbor Drive Elementary student earlier won contests for 9-year-olds at the school, city and county levels, and now shoots in the Western region title in Las Vegas March 7 to 9. The winner goes to the national finals in Indianapolis.
“She’s really cool and doesn’t let pressure get to her,” said her mother, Sandy Erickson. “But when she won the state contest, she got a little excited. She told me ‘Wow, we get to go to Las Vegas and see slot machines.’ ”
Nicole was quickly informed that she’s too young to play the machines.
David D. Blackman, 17, of Newport Beach is a young man with a goal. “I’ve always wanted to be an admiral or a general,” said the Newport Harbor High School senior who took a step along that path after being appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy. He reports July 7 to Annapolis. His credentials include a 3.75 grade-point average and making the honor roll throughout his high school years. He is also a member of the school sailing team, basketball team, ski club and Latin club.
Acknowledgments--Don Dickerson, 58, a 21-year veteran in the safety inspection field, was named risk manager for Fullerton to review city facilities for potential hazards and develop a safety training program for employees.