Father Palladino’s Story

Father Robert Palladino was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was an altar server from the fourth grade on and attended St. Mary’s School in Albuquerque through the 12th grade. 

At the age of 17, he joined the Trappist Monastery at Pecos, New Mexico. In 1955, the Trappist community moved to Abbey of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Lafayette, Oregon. He was professed as a monk that same year and ordained as a priest in December of 1958. There he served as choir master, scribe and bookbinder, learning calligraphy and Gregorian chant from his Trappist mentors. 

In 1968, Palladino left the Trappist order and relocated to Portland, where he began studying under Professor Lloyd Reynolds. Shortly after moving, Palladino went to St. Ambrose College in Iowa to study with Father Edward Catich, a notable calligrapher known for his work on stone inscriptions for campus buildings. Catich condensed a full year’s curriculum of lettering, inscription cutting, watercolor painting and figure drawing into six months for Palladino.

When Palladino returned to Portland in the summer of 1969,  he taught Reed’s summer courses with Reynolds. In fall 1969,  Reynolds retired from Reed, leaving the Graphic Arts program in Palladino’s hands.  Father Palladino taught calligraphy at Reed from 1969 to 1984, leading students on an intellectual journey through the art and history of lettering with brushes, pens, and quills. He often encouraged his students with the advice, “Whenever you write, write something worth reading.”

That’s when he met Steve Jobs, teaching him the importance of aesthetics in scripts. Jobs credited Palladino for inspiring him to have a passion for fonts that made Apple computers unique in the 1980s.

Dedicated to the craft, Palladino became an active member of the wider calligraphy community. He collaborated on numerous projects, exhibited his artwork internationally, and published various articles. He served as president of the Western Branch of the Society for Italic Handwriting and in several board positions for the Portland Society for Calligraphy. He pioneered calligraphy instruction in Portland public schools and played a crucial role in revitalizing calligraphy at Reed College, particularly through the Cooley Gallery’s Calligraphy Initiative.