Cursive is a Dying Art, Isn't it?

I decided to write a blog post about the difference in cursive and calligraphy. It seems lately, whenever I tell people I am a calligrapher I get the same response- “Cursive is a dying art”. To which I usually respond with a respectful nod. What I want to say is “Cursive is not calligraphy”. They teach cursive in school or used to when I was in school. Cursive is continual motion. Yes, you use guidelines for cursive as you do with calligraphy. Cursive is faster motion. you are not picking up your pencil. There is no real technique to it. Calligraphy is used with a special pen. There is great technique that goes into calligraphy. From the slant of each letter being at the same angle, to where you pick up your pen, to what pen you use to achieve the desired effect calligraphy is SO much different that cursive writing. As I talk about in my classes, you cannot just learn calligraphy overnight. You have to experiment with surfaces and materials that can be hard to use. It is very precise and there are certain rules to follow. Cursive is a lot looser as far as the rule following goes. I can also say that calligraphy is not a dying art. It is a steadily growing field that keeps me busy every day.