Tiger Love: Couple celebrates 50 years of crafting a business

A friend introduced Winifred “Winnie” (Gray) Bixler ’69 (art and design) to Michael Bixler ’69 (printing) when they were juniors at RIT’s downtown Rochester campus.

They went to an old, nearby restaurant (Camp’s) and had ham sandwiches for dinner.

“We enjoyed each other’s company and had similar aspirations,” Michael said. “We enjoyed RIT and had a positive view of things to come after graduation.”

The Bixlers celebrate 50 years of marriage in 2019 as well as 50 years since they graduated. And that positive view is as strong as ever.

Today the couple lives in Skaneateles, N.Y. Together they run the Bixler Press and Letterfoundry, where they do Monotype typesetting, fine letterpress printing, traditional book typography, and offer classes in book arts.

“Our journey in creating books has been long and diverse,” Winnie said. “I have done book binding, design, and letterpress printing. It has been great, and it all started at RIT.”

After a stint in the Navy, living in Hawaii, the Bixlers moved to Boston and started their own Monotype shop in 1973. They moved to Skaneateles Lake in 1983 and began restoring an 1867 brick mill building.

They live over their first floor shop, which still features Monotype typesetting machines that cast type in metal, one character at a time. Michael says their work is a craft more than a commercial business.

They have worked with editors, authors, and artists from all over the world, including Japan, Australia, England, Mexico, and Canada.

Monotype composition and letterpress portfolios included projects for photographers Minor White, Irving Penn, Issey Miyaki, Eliot Porter, Ansel Adams, Imogene Cunningham, and Andre Cartier Bresson. They also set the entire text for Alexander Lawson’s History of the School of Printing.

Limited edition letterpress books, set on the Monotype, have been their specialty. There are few people in the world who still do this type of work professionally, full time.

“We offer a very unique service, and people seem to track us down and find out where we are. It’s not the kind of work you can go out and solicit,” Michael said.

Winnie said she feels honored to be part of the process of creating a beautiful and valued book, calling each project a special journey. She said they both feel a great sense of accomplishment as they complete each project.

“We have been doing this work together for 50 years, sharing the same creative spirit and interests,” Michael said. “If it hadn’t been for RIT, we would never have had this enriching life journey.”