EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE: Juuuuuuust Write

Wilmington, NC (WWAY) — We all have our own personal challenges. Some are overcome with the help of others, some we figure out on our own, and some are won by a bit of both. Brunswick County’s Joseph Seltzer knows the power of a pen.
His extraordinary story is “Juuuuust Write”.

There’s a specialty shop on Front Street in Downtown Wilmington that helped create a perfect, well….

“Mrs. Peggy, was the first one at Occasions, to take me in,” Joseph Seltzer said of the local business displaying his creations. “I make handmade pens out of domestic and exotic lumber.”

This is a story of the pen being mightier than the sword.

“Years ago I wouldn’t be talking with you in front of a camera” Seltzer told Daniel Seamans during the interview. “I had really bad social anxiety.”

This is a tale of overcoming personal challenge.

“I was diagnosed with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome when I was 13,” Seltzer said. “So before, I had really bad social skill issues.”

Before. Before Seltzer found his hobby of wood working. “The thing I like about olive wood,” he said holding up one of the pens he created, “is that it smells like wine when it’s being turned so it gives me a little feel for it. The Art Deco is originally a 1910 model pen.”

10 years ago Seltzer would walk into Kids Making It, a local woodworking program. There he learned a trade and walked out with a new life.

“People love locally handmade things, especially tourist season,” Seltzer said. “We have people ask if I have spalted oak, or maple or hickory.”

Each pen takes 45 minutes to two hours depending on the type of wood, he says, and each is made in his own woodshop.

It’s an extraordinary story that proves the pen is indeed mighter than the sword.

A tale that is just getting started for Joseph Seltzer. A tale that is juuuuuust write.

Joseph attended Cape Fear Community College where he was a student ambassador and graduated with an associates in business administration.