Readers show off their cursive skills, and then sound off about handwriting

The Times asked readers for samples of their cursive and to talk about their relationship with old-fashioned, longhand writing with its loops, curls and dips. A new law will require all California students to learn cursive writing -- a skill that had been mandatory for generations, but fell by the wayside in the digital age. Many readers fairly complained that The Times' digital prompt forced them to write cursive on a computer screen with their finger, producing examples well below their standard. But as good sports, they submitted the results anyway. They also submitted comments -- typing them -- which is just as well given that if their story had been told in cursive a lot of people, especially younger ones, wouldn't be able to read it.