ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 5, 1997 TAG: 9703050065
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOULDER CITY, NEV.
SOURCE: ANGIE BLUETHMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANNOYED BY THE LEAKING of ball point pens, the entrepreneur set out in 1948 to blot out the problem.
Digging his hand into his pants pocket, the gray-haired host pulls out a silver, fingerprint-smudged pen, the symbol of a long and lucrative business career.
``I've learned the key to success - be lucky instead of smart. I've also learned the key to long life - keep breathing,'' said Paul C. Fisher, president of Fisher Space Pen Co.
At 83, Fisher is accomplishing a lot more than just breathing. And the pens that bear his name prove that it really was more innovation than luck that made him a millionaire.
Fisher's space pens, which write upside down and through oil and grease, have been used on space flights since 1967. Another of his inventions, the bullet pen, has been enshrined in New York's Museum of Modern Art.
His life story is told on the walls of his spartan apartment located upstairs from his company in this modest desert town. There are pictures and letters from astronauts and presidents, and news articles about Fisher, who made two bids for Congress and even ran against John F. Kennedy in the 1960 New Hampshire primary.
Growing up in Ellsworth, Kan., the son of a Methodist minister, Fisher was an ingenious kid who once made a radio out of an oatmeal box, wires and a crystal.
``I'm curious, and I've got an inventive mind,'' Fisher said.
He attended college in Kansas and Iowa, and worked as a bread store manager, truck driver, accountant and manager of a ball bearing company.
In 1945, he passed up the opportunity to join a Chicago ball point pen company, saying the pen leaked. But the pen was an instant success, making $5 million in three months.
Fisher went on to open a machine shop, but was ever mindful of the leaky pen's success. So in 1948 he founded the Fisher Pen Co.
One night in a dream, Fisher envisioned the company's first product - the chrome-plated bullet pen. When he actually made it, the pen wasn't perfect; the ink still leaked a bit. So Fisher continued to work on it.
``The scientific technique is simply trial and error. I've made at least 10,000 pens that didn't work,'' he said.
Retailing now for $17.50, the bullet continues to be the best-selling pen in company history and has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art as an example of industrial art.
Fisher made his first $1 million off the patented ``One-For-All'' refill, designed to fit most pens.
Today, Fisher Space Pen Co., with annual revenues of $8 million, sits atop a hill in Boulder, some 22 miles southeast of Las Vegas. He moved here from Los Angeles 20 years ago to get away from the smog.
A most unlikely millionaire, Fisher has no office of his own, sharing space with two other employees. Walking through his factory, Fisher knows all his 70 workers by name. Two of his seven children and one of his 12 grandchildren work at the company.
``He's a great guy,'' said general manager Donald Wong. ``Everyone feels like they're part of this company, part of him.''
During a plant tour, Fisher pulled a pen from his pocket and told the story of the space pen.
``When man started to fly in space, it occurred to me that they would need a pen that would work in the vacuum of space. It had to be sealed and pressurized,'' he said.
In 1965, Fisher sent his space pen to Houston Space Center, and NASA began testing it. Since 1967, Fisher's space pens have been on American and Russian space flights.
The space pen can write at temperatures ranging from minus 50 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It can write underwater and over grease because of a tungsten carbide ball and a thick ink constantly being pushed out by a pressurized cartridge.
``The fact that our pens are used in space has given us publicity. The reason why they sell is dependability,'' he said.
Charlie Walker, who has spent a total of 21 days in space aboard three shuttle missions, said astronauts take as many pens as they want on missions. ``The Fisher pen worked just perfectly,'' said Walker.
Space pens can be found at better department stores and specialty gift shops, ranging in price from $3.50 to $250. The ``trophy'' pen, with a titanium-nitrade finish, sells for $1,000.
Fisher is still inventing pens. His latest, the Millennium, is guaranteed to write for a thousand years.
``When I get old, I'm going to take up golf,'' he said. ``I have no desire to retire. I'll probably die with my boots on.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Since 1967, astronauts and cosmonauts have carriedby CNBthe pressurized ink pens made by Paul C. Fisher. The pens write
upside down and through oil and grease. Space pens range in price
from $3.50 to $250. color.