I purchased the Faber Castell Loom fountain pen from Dr. Stephen Brown early in December, 2014 and it arrived from the Netherlands this week.  I was pleasantly surprised to find with the pen this very nice note (to the left), a bag of his favorite tea, and two bookmarks from the National Fountain Pen Day Foundation!

During a trip in September, 2014 to Port Townsend, Washington, Debbie (my girlfriend) and I stopped at the Writing Store where I was hoping to find a fountain pen that I saw the previous year there.  I walked directly up to it and found it (probably not the same one) on the shelf – I quickly purchased the Lamy Al Star, blue-green.  This moment became the discovery of my love of fountain pens.  Once home, it didn’t take long at all to stumble upon Stephen’s YouTube videos on fountain pens.  He has hundreds of videos and is one of the most popular reviewers of fountain pens on the internet (now with over 4 million views).  They are as entertaining as they are educational, as heart-warming as they are witty.  He reviewed the Loom that I have purchased from him (shown below).  It was his birthday present to himself last year that he bought from a local store in the Netherlands.  Needless to say, it is my most most treasured fountain pen.  Yes, treasured even beyond the Lamy Al Star which I had dropped into a river, and successfully retrieved after twice going after it.   Thank you Stephen ~ I will prepare your tea on your birthday and raise my cup to you!  Very well done Stephen!