Steve Soboroff, the investor and civic leader, has a not-so-secret passion for typewriters. As part of his collection, Soboroff ownes this machine once owned by Ernest Hemmingway.
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Typewriters click with history

Steve Soboroff, the investor and civic leader, has a not-so-secret passion for typewriters. As part of his collection, Soboroff ownes this machine once owned by Ernest Hemmingway.

L.A. civic leader Steve Soboroff’s collection includes a typewriter used by Ernest Hemingway.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Steve Soboroff, the investor and civic leader, has a not-so-secret passion for typewriters. He owns machines once used by notables such as John Lennon, Joe DiMaggio, George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Hemingway.

Steve Soboroff’s collection includes typewriters used by George Bernard Shaw and John Lennon.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Steve Soboroff types on a machine once owned by Ernest Hemmingway.

Steve Soboroff types on a machine once owned by Ernest Hemmingway. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

As part of his collection, Soboroff owns this machine once owned by Jim Murray, a notable sports writer for the Los Angeles Times.

Steve Soboroff bought the typewriter of Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray at an auction. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Montgomery Ward Signature Portable seized by the FBI in the raid on the cabin of Theodore Kaczynski (a.k.a. the Unabomber). The case on the left has evidence tape from the FBI. Kaczynski later sent Soboroff a letter from prison.

Last year, Steve Soboroff bought at government auction the Signature Portable seized from the cabin of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Montgomery Ward Signature Portable seized by the FBI in the raid on the cabin of Theodore Kaczynski (a.k.a. the Unabomber).

Steve Soboroff contacted Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski in an attempt to learn details about his typewriter.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

This machine from the movie "The Way We Were."

Among Steve Soboroff’s finds is a movie prop used in the 1973 film “The Way We Were,” starring Robert Redford as a novelist and screenwriter and Barbra Streisand as a political firebrand. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

This machine was owned by Andy Rooney, a long-time commentator with the CBS show "60 minutes."

Steve Soboroff made a cold call to one of Andy Rooney’s neighbors for help in acquiring the author’s typewriter.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beatles singer, song writer John Lennon owned this typewritter.

This Imperial Good Companion Model T was used by John Lennon to write song lyrics.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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