Inventor of the space pen dies at 93

Paul Fisher is best known for inventing the space pen - that handy device writes upside down and made him a millionaire - but the entrepreneur also ran for president of the United States, twice.

Fisher died several weeks ago at the age of 93 in his adopted hometown of Boulder City, Nev., but for more than 20 years this innovative man housed his Fisher Space Pen Co. in the former Roos building here in Forest Park. From 1953 to 1976 Fisher manufactured a host of writing instruments here in the village that changed the industry, one of which is literally out of this world.

All pens rely on gravity to deliver ink to the tip, so the trick was to add gas pressure that would force the ink to flow in a zero-gravity environment. In 1965 Fisher and his plant manager Roger Kennedy worked on the engineering aspects of the pen while another employee, Herman Schub, developed the new ink. All three men have their name on the patent.

"I never met another like Paul Fisher," Kennedy said. "He had good ideas and was a good engineer and salesman."

By John Rice
Forest Park Review

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Comments

[Chris Meisenzahl]

Very sad. A great inventor and businessman.