By RENÉE C. LEE, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
The shabby building, sandwiched between overgrown shrubbery and trees from neighboring properties, is hard to spot, but that hasn’t kept people in need of a good typewriter repairman from finding the Universal Typewriter Shop. Inside, proprietor Edward Smith, 75, tinkers with an IBM Selectric III. Half of its keys are sticking. It’s an easy fix, he says, looking down through his eyeglasses. “This machine has been sitting somewhere,” Smith said. “Some people would put a little oil here and there, but that’s not my way. I go out of my way to do the best job.” That might explain his longevity in a waning industry diminished by the popularity of computers. Despite modern technology, Smith still has a steady stream of customers – some old, some new – who cherish their typewriters.
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