Should you prefer your stories thick in serendipity and immersed in Americana, J.P. Connelly and Tom Furrier have one for you. That their tale touches on icons from various chapters in our history – the typewriter and Ben Hogan – and brings in mentions of those who won Nobel and Pulitzer prizes is even sweeter because it’s all wrapped neatly in a ribbon and bow of golf passion.
“Right place, right time,” said Furrier, still in awe of the way his friendship with Connelly has unfolded from the most modest of all beginnings. A new-age PGA golf professional with an old soul, Connelly has always preferred writing his letters or notes to golf acquaintances on a vintage typewriter, only the one he favored needed some TLC.
Furrier, a craftsman of the highest order, was at his shop, Cambridge Typewriter in Arlington, Mass., this past January when Connelly walked in carrying a 1936 Royal-O. “He said he found me on a video and it piqued his curiosity,” laughed Furrier. “We bonded immediately.”
Connelly, who is the Head Professional at the Kittansett Club in Marion, Mass., left his machine but little did he or Furrier know the sort of doors that would soon be opened. “My brothers and I are not just avid golfers, we’re golf nuts,” said Furrier. “But I didn’t know what J.P. did for a living until he sent me a letter and included his business card.”
That was enough of an opening to forge warm conversations which they did with back-and-forth letters. Yeah, letters, which hopefully puts a smile on your face to know people still engage in such a timeless treasure. “We became pen pals,” laughed Furrier, who couldn’t let go of something Connelly mentioned in a letter.
“He mentioned that Ben Hogan had always been his hero . . . ”
Ah, yes, the golfer who is still engulfed in an aura 28 years after his death and 72 years since his epic three-sweep of the major championships.
“He kept writing me about Hogan,” said Furrier, who embraces both history and golf so he clearly knew of the Hogan mystique. But what Connelly didn’t know is that Furrier at his shop had a typewriter that had belonged to Hogan and needed a new home.
^ ^ ^
If we can put the Connelly-Furrier-Hogan slice of the story on pause for a moment, it’s imperative to appreciate the pristine shine to a craftsman’s wonderful career. Furrier as one of the last of his breed – a typewriter repairman – crossed paths with artists of immense proportions.
Louise Glück (1943-2023), the famed poet who one day showed her Nobel Prize in Literature to Furrier, who was returning her repaired typewriter.
Paul Scott Mowrer (1887-1971), the first writer to win the Pulitzer Price for Foreign Correspondence and went on to marry Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, left two typewriters to Furrier.
And most wonderful of all was the friendship with David McCullough (1933-2022) who won two Pulitzer Prizes and regaled tens of millions of readers with books on Presidents (John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman), majestic landmarks (Brooklyn Bridge, Panama Canal), and legendary names such as Mark Twain, Samuel Morse and the Wright Brothers.
“He loved coming to my shop,” said Furrier. “One day he brought his wife (Rosalee), his children, and his grandchildren.” Of course, McCullough’s typewriter, to which he was devoted, weighed 50 pounds when encased, so Furrier would often go to the author’s house in Hingham, Mass., to do his repairs.
“I would sit in his study and often his wife would come in to join us and we would just talk. They were ‘pinch-me’ moments.”
The vintage Underwood typewriter connected to Ben Hogan, restored by the craftsman Tom Furrier, and now in the possession of PGA professional J.P. Connelly.
To marvel at how well Furrier knew his craft is to appreciate how knowledgeable he is of those artists who depended upon his services. He will tell you how Paul Scott Mowrer and Hadley chose to spend many wonderful years at their summer home in Chocorua Village in New Hampshire and that “Paul was New Hampshire’s first Poet Laureate.”
And the typewriter that belonged to Francis Ouimet, the first American golf hero thanks to that 1913 U.S. Open triumph at The Country Club? “It was brought to me to be reconditioned and believe me, as a golf nut I cherished every minute with that typewriter.”
His friendship with McCullough was so appreciated that Furrier was mentioned in the acknowledgements of one of the legend’s books.
Oh, it is a giant from bygone era, the typewriter is, but because of it we have been blessed with an endless list of brilliant books that have filled our souls and enriched our lives. Long after Shakespeare had brought drama to life with a quill, the works of Hemingway, Twain, William Faulkner, J.D. Salinger, Jack Kerouac, Cormac McCarthy, George Orwell, and Agatha Christie were created with Royals, Remingtons, Underwoods, and Coronas.
A dominant presence from more than a century, the typewriter and its unforgettable features – QWERTY, ink ribbon, carriage return and its unmistakable “ding” – was indispensable in offices, private homes, and with professional writers and students alike.
Furrier started working in the shop for the owner, a neighbor, 45 years ago, but he was the owner the last 35 years until shutting the doors for good at the end of May.
“The first half of my career I fixed business machines; the second half I’ve repaired and worked on vintage types.”
While laptops and personal computers now dominate, Furrier appreciates that he got a chance to ride a nice wave in later years thanks to the desire people had to revive vintage typewriters. He was ready to retire and play more golf, but never should we forget the love he had for his craft.
“Typewriters are personal items,” he said. “Just think of the fingers on the keyboard, most personal thoughts being transferred from mind to paper through fingers.
“To repair these machines, then take the time to find the right home for them . . . that’s what I take pride in.”
For instance, the two typewriters that belonged to Paul Scott Mowrer? Furrier found two aspiring writers and when they heard the story behind the typewriters and their owner, they were ecstatic to have the chance to receive them.
“Right time for the right persons,” said Furrier.
^ ^ ^
Which returns us to Connelly and Furrier and the connection to Hogan typewriter tale. Enthralled by Furrier’s love of golf, J.P. Connelly and his wife, Tara Joy-Connelly – an esteemed competitor at the state and national mid-am level – invited their new friend for a round of golf at the Kittansett Club.
“Such a beautiful course and a wonderful day,” said Furrier. Only the joy wasn’t quite over. He had been touched by how much passion Connelly had for golf, for Hogan, for his refurbished 1936 Royal-O, and for writing thank you notes and stories on a typewriter in a most personal manner.
“It was a no-brainer,” said Furrier, who told Connelly to wait a minute because he had something in his car.
“When he sees me (coming back), he asks, ‘Is that what I think it is?’ and I told him, ‘I don’t know, let’s open it,’ ” said Furrier.
Inside the box was a brilliantly-restored Underwood typewriter seemed to be smiling at Connelly. “His eyes lit up and I could see how much it meant to him,” said Furrier.
“He blew my mind by gifting me this ‘Hogan Typewriter,’ ” said Connelly, who knew that Hogan had authored his own book, Ben Hogan’s Power Golf, and a series of newspaper articles (likely with the help of ghostwriter Tom Shehan, who passed away in Maine in 2002).
“Just blew me away.”
Right time, right person. That’s because Furrier truly believes that to sit at a typewriter with heartfelt thoughts and emotions racing from your mind to your fingers, then to keys that transfer words onto paper is to connect with history in an extraordinary way.
Furrier wasn’t ashamed to say that on some days when he’d be going out to play golf, he’d first sit at the Underwood and type a note. “I’d just write something to Mr. Hogan, telling him where I was going,” laughed Furrier.
It turns out that Connelly had a similar thoughts when he sat down at the Underwood for his first time. “It seems only fitting that the first thing I write on it be to its owner . . . ” Connelly wrote to the late Ben Hogan.
But what pulls at the heartstrings and brings this story to full circle is what Connelly wrote to Tom Furrier:
“There is life anew . . . Thanks to a man who believes these tools of a different era are far more than just machines. May this man, this respectful caretaker, understand the many lives his spirit has touched in the haven he has created.”
Bravo, J.P. So well written. And cheers to you,Tom Furrier, for a life of superb craftsmanship.
Well played, lads. Marvelously well played.
