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SALT LAKE CITY — At the Urban Flea Market in downtown Salt Lake City, old is in — old bottles, old pictures, old cameras.
There’s even texting — old school — thanks to Alixander Court.
That’s no typo — it is Alix with an "i."
“I tell people my name is Alixander with an ‘i’ because I am my own kind of great,” he said.
Armed with his 1970s-era Brother Tabulator manual typewriter, the full-time real estate agent and part-time writer spends some of his Sundays giving away words.
People dictate letters, poems, quotes, and lyrics, and Court types them. One woman requests a line from an Alex Ebert song.
No way dividing what’s yours or mine when everything is shining.
Another asks for a popular coffee cup quote.
I love you to the liquor store and back.
Sometimes he types just what he thinks people need.
“Say it loud, say it proud and say it every single day,” he writes for one young woman, “I am a babe.” She laughed.
“A couple years ago, I sold some stuff at the Urban Flea Market and really liked it. So earlier this year, I thought, ‘Well, I want to get involved again but I don’t have any stuff to sell.’ So I thought, ‘Well, what do I have? Well, I have my typewriter.’”
One day a month at the flea market, Court — sometimes with the company of a small group of writers he calls The Poempros — types under a 10-foot white pop-up tent. The clacking of the typewriter is punctuated by a margin bell and Court’s hearty laugh.
“I do this because I have a passion for words and I believe in the power of words, and I believe in and sharing positivity and empowerment to other people through words,” he said.
Court said probably the most common thing he does is writing letters to mom.
There was the Mother’s Day letter one man dictated.
Dear Mom,
For Mother’s Day me and my brothers decided tell you the truth. Yes, we did burn the house down as kids but it was you who first put that fire in our hearts.
“You never know what you’re going to find at the market. You never know who you’re gonna meet, either,” Court said.
There was the woman who wanted to write a letter to her brother, who killed himself the previous weekend.
Lance, wherever you are, your heart is always safe with me. Love, Your Sis.
A distraught woman wandered into Court’s booth. She’s in town for a convention and is worried about her family weathering a hurricane back home in Florida.
She told Court, “I can’t even think straight.” So that’s what he wrote.
I Can’t Even Think Straight.
My heart and prayers are going out to all who are affected by the hurricanes that are ravaging the East Coast of America. While I have no way to change what happened or undo all the damage that has been done, I will keep my heart open for all who need, all who mourn and always will they have my love. May these words stand as a testament to the power of human kindness and empathy and God bless America.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Court said as he gives her a hug. She sobbed.
“I mean, at the end of the day, it’s really just about really connecting with people. I think that’s what it’s really about,” he said.
The last Urban Flea Market of the year is Sunday, Oct. 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 600 South Main, Salt Lake City.
