Kay Michael Kramer, retired book designer and fine press printer extraordinaire, passed away peacefully on Good Friday, April 2, at the de Greeff Hospice House. He was 81 years old. In addition to his wife Virginia, Kay is survived by Virginia’s son, Christopher Wood, his wife Linda, and their children Courtney, Emma, Katie, and Andrew, all of St. Louis. Kay was predeceased by his parents, Bernard and Esther (Bundy) Kramer and his son Scott. When he was a freshman in high school in Omaha, Nebraska, Kay discovered what would become his life-long interest. He found little pieces of metal type laying on a sidewalk next to the school. He was fascinated with them and went on to learn hand typesetting and letterpress printing. This led to a very successful four years at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York where he excelled not only in printing, but also in typographic design. That education provided him with the qualifications to be hired as a book designer at The C. V. Mosby Company (now part of Elsevier) in June, 1961, from where he retired 36 years later, as their Director of Art & Design. For his design work at Mosby, Kay received prestigious awards and recognitions. Additionally, he founded his award-winning private press, The Printery, in 1970 and personally produced incredibly beautiful small-run books, booklets, and broadsides of historic or literary interest. Friends and family who were lucky enough to be on the Kramer Christmas list cherished his annual holiday productions. After Kay became unable to print due to health problems, The Printery equipment and type was acquired by the St. Louis Mercantile Library and is currently located at Central Print, a book arts related non-profit, in Old North St. Louis. Recreated as The Printery Book Arts Lab, it allows book artists to take up residency and use the much sought after types to pursue their interest in the book arts. We know Kay would be incredibly pleased, impressed, and humbled, to see that what started out as a few fonts of type and a Vandercook press is being made available for today's book artists. Kay's family will be forever grateful for the loving care Kay received at de Greeff Hospice House. A private memorial service will be held when the family is all in town. For those who wish to make a memorial contribution, the family would be most appreciative of donations to Central Print, 2624 North 14th Street, St. Louis, MO 63106, www.centralprint.org/donate, where a celebration of Kay's life and printing will be held at a future date.