1989 - John Dancy-Jones

 John Dancy-Jones lives at 528 North Person Street with his wife Cara Mia. He has lived in Oakwood since 1989. In addition to working full-time as a science teacher, John runs the Paper Plant Press out of a shed in his backyard. The shed was built to house one of the first Model T cars owned in Oakwood. To view his books, paper and art, visit: http://www.netweed.com/paperplant/

“It is hard for people to imagine what happened to these houses in the 1960s. Most of the houses in Oakwood–most of these really nice houses, like the one where your teacher lives–was divided up into as many small apartments as possible and rented out by the week or month to anyone who could put down a small deposit and pay rent.”

“What does Oakwood mean to me–it is both a physical place and strong community. Both things feed off one another.”

“Why did I want to make paper and print books? My hero is a man named William Blake. He was a poet and never really got famous during his life. He lived from 1757 to 1827. William Blake made his own books. He would print the books and he and his wife would water color them. When I came across paper-making as a craft, I fell in love with it because I realized I could make my own paper and print on it. I could start to emulate William Blake and I could be in control of my own publishing. So I started making paper and printing my own books. My next project is a book called “The Natural History of Raleigh.”