DIGITIZED: THE MONEY TREE’S OUT ON A LIMB

PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE FULL ISSUE PREV FULL ISSUE

V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 20, May 14, 2017, Article 8

The advent of desktop publishing in the 1980s and subsequent rise of the Internet created publishing platforms accessible with a few keystrokes. Frequently the content did not justify even that minimal effort, but in a few exceptional cases the ease of publication served to preserve voices that otherwise would have been lost. Out on a Limb is solidly in the latter category, and Ken Lowe’s musing on all matters numismatic is now accessible on the Newman Portal.

The house organ of The Money Tree from 1987 until Lowe’s untimely passing in 1998, Out on a Limb is a veritable stream of consciousness from a first-rate raconteur. Lowe’s comments on people and personalities illuminate the era in an amusing manner, and it is difficult to read a single page without breaking a smile. A few samples:

(September 1990) “I got to ride as the front seat passenger, and Dr. John M. Kleeberg of the ANS, Walter Breen, and John Burns had to sit in back. The rest shall be left to your imagination, but rest assured, your imagination is not exaggerating.”

(November 1993) “The K.M. Lowe Correspondence School Mini-course in Numismatic Library Perusal and Evaluation. Points are taken off for the following offenses: [1] Neatness (if it is neat, you ain’t usin’ it) [2] No books on floor (if you have room for all your books on the shelves, you don’t have enough books) [3] A tidy desk - keeping a tidy desk takes valuable time away from book stuff. If the desk in the library does not have catalogues, correspondence, and emerging life forms developing among the clutter, then you are not devoting enough time to your mania.”

(January 1998) “Editor’s note: the reader submitting the best answer to that question will win a one-year subscription to OUT ON A LIMB. The Second Place winner will win a two-year subscription.”

The impetus for Out on a Limb was a 1987 dinner party invitation from Mr. and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, Sr. Lowe thought the event should be memorialized for posterity, and the gala is thoroughly documented in the inaugural issue. Lowe’s observations on the contrast between high society and the hoi polloi are liberally dispensed, and one senses that his pen would have been welcome at a Three Stooges scriptwriting session. There’s no pie throwing, but you get the idea. I was not fortunate enough to meet Ken, but I am sure everyone who did treasured his friendship and wit.

Thanks to Myron Xenos of the Money Tree for granting permission to scan Out on a Limb, and Joel Orosz for loaning a complete set of unbound issues.

That's Mryon standing behind Ken at the typewriter. I had the pleasure of knowing both Myron and Ken quite well, and spoke with Myron recently in getting his OK to host the Limb on the portal. I both bought and consigned material to many of their Money Tree sales and price lists. They were among the numismatic guests at my wedding nearly twenty years ago.

Ken's sudden passing was a shock, and I was among the numismatic attendees at his funeral. One regret I've always had is that Ken left us before the advent of The E-Sylum. While a different type of publication than Out on a Limb, The E-Sylum similarly offers a platform for musings on numismatic literature and the people who create and collect it.

As Len noted, Ken's great sense of humor is infused throughout the publication. Highly recommended reading for numismatic bibliophiles and curious collectors alike. -Editor