“I’m Not Anyone” Shares Roger Gimbel’s 50-Years in Print

American Printer is publishing this series of excerpts from I’m Not Anyone in recognition of the donation commitment by Roger Gimbel.

Roger is donating all proceeds from the book to the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation. The scholarships will assist young people in pursuing an education in graphic arts and a career in the printing industry.

 “I’m Not Anyone” is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578325950

Excerpt #1
“I’m Not Anyone”
A Story of Reinvention and Acceptance
By Roger Gimbel, EDP

My father, Hy Gimbel, started his printing company, Madison Square Offset, in 1942. His brother, my uncle Harry, was his partner and they ran the business from a tiny office on Broadway in New York City. The space contained one small printing press, a phone, and little else. As the business grew, it was very much a family affair. Besides Harry, my uncle Phil, cousin Harriet, cousin Janis, Janis’ husband George, and other family members all worked in the company at one time or another.

 Before the print company, my immigrant father was a street vendor. He started from humble beginnings, but Hy Gimbel worked tirelessly to grow his printing business. He met people, made connections, and always kept an eye on what was happening in the marketplace.

As the company grew, the name changed to Electronic Reproduction Service, or ERS, as we always called it, and moved to the fourth floor of a building on West 25th Street. This is where I worked part time during my high school years.

When I wasn’t working or going to school in the ‘60s, I spent time with my father at the Deep Sea Club, which later became the Montauk Yacht Club. Dad helped set up fishing tournaments for the club. It was my first introduction to the Montauk facility, a place that would be my boating home for decades.

Montauk was also where I met Frank Mundus, the shark guy. He later became the model for Robert Shaw’s character, Quint in the movie “Jaws”.

Mr. Mundus was known as Monster Man. He had a diamond and gold earring and a dagger with a shark-tooth blade. I was impressed.

 Mundus later took Peter Benchley, the author of the best-seller “Jaws” out to sea several times. Mundus showed Benchley how he har­pooned big sharks and attached barrels to tire them out. This became a major point of emphasis in Benchley’s book and the movie that followed.

In the mid to late ‘60s my father wanted me to learn the print­ing trade, so that’s what I did. I earned a few dollars from doing the work, which funded my other interests at the time — motorcycles and girlfriends.

In August 1969, right after graduating from high school, my girl­friend and I drove up to a place called White Lake, New York and camped out. We had tickets to a concert. After a while, it started get­ting really crowded. Top musical acts attracted nearly 400,000 people to The Woodstock Music and Art Fair. We stayed all three days at the event that most people recognize as the best example of America’s youth counterculture of the 1960s.

I met a lot of real interesting people at Woodstock. I became acquainted with Abbie Hoffman, who was involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Among other public­ity stunts he pulled off in the late ‘60s, Hoffman famously interrupted a performance by rock band The Who at Woodstock to plead the case of an arrested White Panther leader.