Andy did a summer as an Intern working for me - he mentioned his father was a writer with one or more of the big papers – so I’m 95% certain John is his dad. But I could be wrong. I’m not much of a cyber stalker I’m afraid.
The last time I heard from Andy he was going back to school.
I think he was involved somewhat with the letterpress configuration of the proprietary face for Arion Press, and I think he mentioned some involvement with the Yale Carter typeface.
But those are a couple/few years back already. And I’m not sure if he was involved or not or whatever happened to him.
But in his short period of influence he changed us all. When grunge/post-modernism/de-constructionism/etc ruled the roost he brought us back common-sensically to the nuts and bolts of typography. We owe him a great debt.
Andy did some work on a digital revival of Oxford (working with Linnea Lundquist) for some project at the Arion Press a couple years back. I tried contacting him several months ago using updated info I got from Chuck Creesy at Princeton University Press. But I received no reply from Andy. Last I heard, he was living in Bethesda, working for a publisher of some sort, I believe.
Lines & Splines was one of the first type-related website I was aware of. Definitely the first type-related blog. (An earlier incarnation of David Earl’s Typographer.org was around then, too, but I didn’t know about it yet.) My recollection is that Typophile and Typographica appeared as Lines & Splines disappeared.
Here is what it looked like in February 2001:
(I did this screen cap when Andy posted a link to an article I had just posted on my site, which is also how I found out about Lines & Splines. It was the first I’d heard of Joe Clark, too. Hi, Joe!)
I’m reading all this great stuff about how wonderful Andy and his Lines & Splines site were and this is my first time hearing about both. It does indeed sound like a great resource and if you are willing to share (and think it’s ok), I’d be interested in a copy of the PDF as well.
Hey all, I just got here from a Google search. I used to know Andy in middle school and for a year in high school before I was kicked out. Here’s what I know:
1. He was sort of a spaz in middle school. (not that I had a better reputation) He was sort of an over-active, pull girls’ pigtails, don’t-quite-fit-in type. When I found Lines & Splines I was amazed at how mature and brilliant his writing was compared to how I remembered him acting in person most of the time.
2. He grew up in Bethesda, MD.
3. He and I were in a group of probably less than 10 people on BBSes in Pyle Middle school in 1991. I remember asking him if he had a “Focke’s List” for that month and when he realized I was a BBSer, he got really serious and intense. He asked if I was on any “elite BBSes” but I didn’t yet know what those were. I lamely replied that I was an The Elite Few, which was a policy/politics debate BBS in Washington DC. It was like being asked your favorite action movie and saying “I only watch PBS.” He was not impressed, but later I think we shared some BBS numbers with each other. It was strange seeing him talk about computers because he went from low on the totem pole socially to having a commanding presence. He wasn’t a spaz when he talked about computers.
4. When Lines and Splines became the most respected blog on the planet (I remember thinking he was late to the game but it just didn’t matter because he was so amazing) I wrote him an email telling him we went to middle school together. He wrote right back. When I explained who I was, he stopped writing.
I don’t expect to see him make his presence known in the same way again. Maybe he’ll write a book.
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27.Dec.2007 4.02pm
I doubt anyone but Andy Crewdson can answer that question.
More about his disappearances:
http://typographica.org/000020.php
http://typographica.org/000175.php
http://typographica.org/000254.php
http://www.typophile.com/node/33564
His most recent published work, as far as I’m aware (2002-03):
http://web.archive.org/web/20040614120158/http://www.new-series.org/
http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/new_york_new_york/typography_in_t...
http://www.typotheque.com/articles/helvetica:_homage_to_a_typeface_revie...
http://www.typotheque.com/articles/fedra_typefaces_reviewed/
27.Dec.2007 4.34pm
You could always ask his dad...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Crewdson
27.Dec.2007 4.38pm
Where do we find out John is Andy’s dad? You got some inside info, Si?
27.Dec.2007 5.43pm
Andy did a summer as an Intern working for me - he mentioned his father was a writer with one or more of the big papers – so I’m 95% certain John is his dad. But I could be wrong. I’m not much of a cyber stalker I’m afraid.
27.Dec.2007 6.04pm
Here goes...
This article http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/newsletters/12_02_97/story05.htm reports that Andy attended Walt Whitman High School, but not which high school :-), but given the location of the NIH it’s likely the one in Bethesda, Maryland - where according to this bio http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/authors/64/2341/index.html John and his family live. Now how can I fit in Kevin Bacon?
27.Dec.2007 8.16pm
The last time I heard from Andy he was going back to school.
I think he was involved somewhat with the letterpress configuration of the proprietary face for Arion Press, and I think he mentioned some involvement with the Yale Carter typeface.
But those are a couple/few years back already. And I’m not sure if he was involved or not or whatever happened to him.
But in his short period of influence he changed us all. When grunge/post-modernism/de-constructionism/etc ruled the roost he brought us back common-sensically to the nuts and bolts of typography. We owe him a great debt.
Gerald
28.Dec.2007 4.33am
Andy did some work on a digital revival of Oxford (working with Linnea Lundquist) for some project at the Arion Press a couple years back. I tried contacting him several months ago using updated info I got from Chuck Creesy at Princeton University Press. But I received no reply from Andy. Last I heard, he was living in Bethesda, working for a publisher of some sort, I believe.
— K.
28.Dec.2007 7.35am
Not to reveal my ignorance, but is Andy Crewdson the Type equivalent of Chuck Norris or Bill Brasky?
28.Dec.2007 8.06am
Lines & Splines was one of the first type-related website I was aware of. Definitely the first type-related blog. (An earlier incarnation of David Earl’s Typographer.org was around then, too, but I didn’t know about it yet.) My recollection is that Typophile and Typographica appeared as Lines & Splines disappeared.
Here is what it looked like in February 2001:
(I did this screen cap when Andy posted a link to an article I had just posted on my site, which is also how I found out about Lines & Splines. It was the first I’d heard of Joe Clark, too. Hi, Joe!)
28.Dec.2007 8.48am
At one point I realized how much I wanted to hang on to what he was saying and so I made a PDF of the entire site. It really was a great resource.
28.Dec.2007 9.59am
Can I have a copy of that pdf?
28.Dec.2007 10.03am
Oh, me too. It would help me understand the late great Andy Crewdson, may he live in peace.
28.Dec.2007 3.50pm
I’m reading all this great stuff about how wonderful Andy and his Lines & Splines site were and this is my first time hearing about both. It does indeed sound like a great resource and if you are willing to share (and think it’s ok), I’d be interested in a copy of the PDF as well.
23.Jan.2008 12.44pm
Hmmmm! Likewise!
24.Jan.2008 5.27am
what Eben, scruggsdesign & Hailey said.
-=®=-
24.Jan.2008 6.52am
Here is yet another “me too”, Tiff.
ChrisL
24.Jan.2008 8.53am
Ditto!
24.Jan.2008 8.55am
me too
24.Jan.2008 9.09am
Tiff, sorry if I started an avalanche! Maybe I should email her & let her know about this thread.
24.Jan.2008 9.15am
::raises hand::
Count me in.
24.Jan.2008 10.18am
Hmm. Wow. Email me off-list and I’ll see if I can find it for you.
24.Jan.2008 2.20pm
Sorry if I’m confused — is Andy amongst us yet, or…
And I would like to see what that site was all about.
. . .
Bert Vanderveen BNO
16.Feb.2008 11.36am
Hey all, I just got here from a Google search. I used to know Andy in middle school and for a year in high school before I was kicked out. Here’s what I know:
1. He was sort of a spaz in middle school. (not that I had a better reputation) He was sort of an over-active, pull girls’ pigtails, don’t-quite-fit-in type. When I found Lines & Splines I was amazed at how mature and brilliant his writing was compared to how I remembered him acting in person most of the time.
2. He grew up in Bethesda, MD.
3. He and I were in a group of probably less than 10 people on BBSes in Pyle Middle school in 1991. I remember asking him if he had a “Focke’s List” for that month and when he realized I was a BBSer, he got really serious and intense. He asked if I was on any “elite BBSes” but I didn’t yet know what those were. I lamely replied that I was an The Elite Few, which was a policy/politics debate BBS in Washington DC. It was like being asked your favorite action movie and saying “I only watch PBS.” He was not impressed, but later I think we shared some BBS numbers with each other. It was strange seeing him talk about computers because he went from low on the totem pole socially to having a commanding presence. He wasn’t a spaz when he talked about computers.
4. When Lines and Splines became the most respected blog on the planet (I remember thinking he was late to the game but it just didn’t matter because he was so amazing) I wrote him an email telling him we went to middle school together. He wrote right back. When I explained who I was, he stopped writing.
I don’t expect to see him make his presence known in the same way again. Maybe he’ll write a book.