This Letterpress Poster Will Get Me Through Cochlear Implant Surgery Next Week.

Mary McBruno's "The Devil" Poster Will Hang Next to My Bed.

When letterpress printer Mary McBruno’s email blast hit my inbox today and I saw her infamous “Devil” poster, I knew had to order it and hang it my bed while I recover from cochlear implant surgery next week.

It’s likely it won’t arrive until after Wednesday, the day of my surgery. So I’ll put the poster image on my iPhone screensaver, so it’s staring at me every time I check my phone, which is often. It’ll temporarily replace the sunrise as captured on my iPhone a few years ago in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, before a day at Hamilton Wood Type Museum’s annual Wayzgoose.

I’ve loved Mary’s “Be the kind of WOMAN” poster for a long time for several reasons. Out of all the female letterpress printers I know, she’s the least liberal one that I’ve met. Mary’s worked with nuns and a Catholic University for her scroll project. That kind of project takes a certain type of open-minded person, someone who’s not intimidated by the Catholic Church, faith and women of the cloth. Mary’s also Catholic, as am I. I like to support the work of other Catholics, so I hit the submit button.

When you’re faced with tremendous unknowns, it helps to surround yourself with upbeat friends, family and art. That’s where Mary’s poster comes into play.

Every time, I try to sleep and I’m filling pain, I’ll look at this poster. I might even be able to read it in the semi-darkness that fills my apartment this time of year. The dark, even impressions should be easy enough to read without contact lenses. Besides, the type is large and in charge. I especially like the part that’s printed in Cooper type (originally made in Chicago, Illinois, my hometown): “that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says:” Cooper type speaks to me personally as a Chicagoan and as a writer and a printer. In fact, to distract myself, I think I’ll print a small postcard in Cooper type this weekend, something I can carry with me to the hospital, something I can carry with me as the anesthesia wears off, something I can hide my face with since I likely will not able to wear sunglasses as I head into the sunshine after surgery. I could bring a cardboard church fan too, handy at this time of year, since it’s hot out there.

“Be the kind of WOMAN,” that part of the quote is partly crafted from wood type and Cooper (maybe metal or wood), but I’m just focused on “the kind of WOMAN” part. That implies I need to be strong, a woman of faith focused on a great outcome: successful surgery, little pain, easy recovery and an incredible activation (the following day). I’m tearful and fearful about all of this right now as I barrel into the last stretch of time off before next week, finishing up a stressful project, cleaning and doing laundry and my day job. I’m emotional, which is to be expected.

Now the part about the devil. If you’re a fan of C.S. Lewis (and Rush Limbaugh, for that matter), you don’t tip off the bad guys, the opposition, on your next steps. You just do what you’re going to do. No announcements, no hashtags, no “SOMETHING BIG is coming, stay tuned.” If you tip off the devil (that is, if you believe in the devil, and a lot of people don’t), well, that could spell trouble as he tries to trip you up.

But I find Mary’s letterpress poster refreshing because as least she’s acknowledging that the devil exists. And he/she/it does. If the devil exists, of course, God does too. This letterpress poster, in a backhanded sort of way, acknowledges God, hell and heaven. Since I’m kind of woman that defies description on many levels, I sort of like the idea that the devil might curse his own darkness when my feet “hit the floor,” to borrow Mary’s words. Don’t mess with me, honestly. That includes liberals (the devil’s helpmates). I’ll push back, honestly.

I think liberals like this poster (and it sells out apparently, because my order is an additional print run) speaks to many printers, graphic designers who happen to be women. They like the old-fashioned idea of an impish red devil hopping on your shoulder, trying to keep you in bed, trying to keep you from doing the Lord’s work. (And isn’t that what this poster implies? Why would the devil want to keep you in bed? Well, you’re going to do something GOOD for the world, the planet, your family. Christians (and Catholics) would call that the Lord’s work).

Back to the poster one more time. Honestly, I want my feet to hit the floor (in my case, ugly cream carpeting) after surgery. I want to be up and about, doing fun stuff. I don’t want to be stuck in bed, suffering in pain. (Don’t give me “Offer it up,” right now, I’ll just growl, thank you). The devil wants me to be in bed, but I want to be up as soon as humanly possible. And I’ll have to be at some point on the following day because activation is half past noon!! I might be cranky, bleary-eyed, still in mild pain but I’ll be at the hospital to put on my processor in front of family and friends if you have to roll me in a wheelchair.

The “Be the kind of WOMAN…” quote can be found on other posters, but Mary’s rendition is the one that resonates with the most. It’s ‘handmade’ the imposter posters are just digitally printed in fancy-schmancy type that has no history. Mary’s typefaces are OLD. The wood type capital letters are more than a hundred years ago. Ditto the Cooper type (metal and wood) that dates back to the 1920s. The type still ‘kisses’ the paper (to use the letterpress expression for makes a crisp, clear impression when it makes contact with paper) even after years and years of use. And the poster is made on a letterpress printer that’s equally as old as the type.

So Mary’s work, the type, the ink will inspire me while the anesthesia wears off, as I lay there, missing all sound. I’ll be deaf in both ears, temporarily. Honestly, that part freaks me out. I won’t hearing car doors slamming outside, trucks pulling up, the extraordinarily loud hum of my refrigerator. If it storms over night, I won’t hear the thunder, unless the thunderclap is extra loud, louder than a Fourth of July firecracker.

My hope is to sleep, eat, get up, maybe write right here on my Substack. If you want to see me in my temporary head bandage wrap post-surgery, just let me know in the comments, I’ll direct message you with a snapshot. Not sure I’m going to go public with it as so many do post cochlear surgery.

So even if Mary’s poster arrives a week after surgery, so what. Even if I have to stare it on my iPhone for days, so what. Even if my temporary deafness overwhelms me, so what, I have the poster words burned into my memory. I can repeat it verbatim even I can’t hear my own voice.

So once more with a ton of feeling (and this is for myself, maybe you too): Be the kind of WOMAN that when your feet the floor each morning, the devil says: OH CRAP, SHE’S UP.

Amen to that.