About

My name is Bonnie Thompson Norman. For me, books are a passion as well as a profession.

I have been proprietor of The Windowpane Press, a letterpress printing and book arts studio, for about thirty years. I work full-time as a hand bookbinder in a commercial bindery. Evenings and weekends, I teach classes in printing and bookmaking.

My first job, at age 16, was in a bookstore, and nearly every job I’ve held since has in some way involved books or art. I became interested in letterpress printing beginning in 1967 when I went to work for Jake Zeitlin at Zeitlin & Ver Brugge in Los Angeles. I was Studio Director at the Woman’s Building and worked for renown letterpress printer, Patrick Reagh, for a number of years. I am one of the original group of Women of Letters, which continues to meet today, more than twenty-five years after our original gathering.

After moving to Seattle in 1993, I went to work as a hand bookbinder for Puget Bindery in Kent. I also began offering classes through the University of Washington Experimental College as well as occasionally teaching at Seattle Central Community College and the School of Visual Concepts. I am a member of the Board of the Friends of the University of Washington Libraries, an active member of the Guild of Book Workers and the Book Arts Guild in Seattle, and am active in other printing and binding organizations.