Description
Lawton Kennedy was a Bay Area printer. Born in 1900 in San Francisco, he began his career in 1913 working at his family’s small print shop, the Kennedy Press. In 1916, Kennedy started to devote his full time to printing at the Bardell Art Printing Company. After working around San Francisco for 10 years, he moved to Oakland to work for Johnck and Kibbee, then later co-owned the Westgate Press with Harold Seeger. In 1952, Kennedy returned to San Francisco and reestablished the Kennedy Press, where he experimented with different styles and methods of printing. In this interview, Kennedy discusses the Kennedy family press, San Francisco printers, the California Historical Society, and the future of letterpress.