M. F. McGrew
1912–2007
his web site
commemorates and celebrates the life of my father, M. F. McGrew,
for the many people who knew him over the years.
His knowledge of type was legendary.
He lived and breathed typography, and truly had ink in his veins.
As such, he was a noted Typographer and Typographic Historian.
In that field, he was best known as the author of the book,
American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century,
a book which documented all of the typefaces that had been cast as metal fonts during the twentieth century,
and which gave backgrounds and stories about how each of them came into being.
He was also the author of over 300 articles on typography, which ran in trade journals
and which helped to pass along some of his vast knowledge of proper typographic practice to those around him.
One such series of articles appeared regularly for years on Page 1 of
Typo Graphic Magazine
under the name of Lets Talk Type.
Typo Graphic billed itself as The monthly magazine that type built.
Much of his love of letters came from his father, Carl A. McGrew,
who was an architect with a specialty of inscriptional lettering for buildings.
A variety of buildings around Pittsburgh carry his marks.
He lived nearly all of his life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and spent the last twenty years
at the Asbury Heights retirement center.
He also had a life-long interest in streetcars and trolleys, and was one of the founders of
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum outside Washington, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh.
This web site is an attempt to pass along some thoughts about the life and background of Mac McGrew.
There is no doubt that my father did a good job of passing along his love of typography and printing, his love of streetcars
—and his love— to me and to many around us.
He was an honest, hard-working gentleman all of his life.
He was also sharp to the end, so we were able to enjoy daily phone conversations
about typography and word usage, trolleys, and just the events of the day.
He passed away quietly on February 28th, 2007, at age 94.
—Presented with love by his son, Jon McGrew
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Select:
His life:
Typography:
Railways:
I welcome your thoughts.
If you have questions or comments, please contact me:
Jon McGrew (son)
McGrew@TypeMatters.com
This web site is a work in progress.
It was started on April 1, 2007.
Entire website contents © 2007–2014, by Jon McGrew. All rights reserved.
If you are interested in this tribute material,
please check back; more content may follow in the future.
http://TypeMatters.com/MFM
UNIQUE VISITORS
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