By Christopher Byline | Education beat back-up correspondent
The only typewriter still in use at Bass Lake schools is about to be retired, coinciding with the abrupt resignation of longtime dedicated administrative assistant May December, 63.
The typewriter, a 1980 IBM Selectric II, will be put out to pasture within the next 2.3 weeks, according to Simon Greenless, president of Bass Lake School Board of Education. It is part of the district’s 2014-15 technology-upgrade initiative.
“We’ll be glad to get that oversized relic out of the building,” Greenless said. “I’m talking about the typewriter, by the way.”
The decision marks the end of a memorable era, said Anne Remington, assistant to the administrative assistant.
“You’d hear May in the office there, peck-peck-pecking, all day long,” Remington said. “She used to say, ‘If you come in here and you hear me typing, or you DON’T hear me typing, it means that I am working.’”
According to school officials, the typewriter will be recycled or donated to a museum of one’s choice.
December was first employed by the Bass Lake school system in 1975, as a typing and shorthand teacher. She was later moved to the office, where she remained (during business hours).
According to school officials, December, retired because balancing her personal life with work had created a “jam.”
December was asked for comment, but phone calls did not automatically return at the end of the line.
Bass Lake Beacon 