The Lyra Corporation
In 1979, then proprietor and publisher Andrew Hoyem registered Arion Press as the Lyra Corporation, and the corporation in turn acquired Mackenzie and Harris Typography in 1989, renaming it M&H Type and helping preserve its collection of Monotype and other historic typecasting equipment. The name Lyra Corporation derives from the story of Arion and the Dolphin.
Arion of Corinth is the poet credited with inventing the dithyramb form to honor Dionysus. On a return ship home, he was kidnapped by pirates and, to save himself, plucked his lyre in praise of Apollo so skillfully that the deity sent a school of dolphins to rescue him. Arion jumped overboard, was rescued on the back of a dolphin and carried to dry land where he lived to tell his tale. Meanwhile, the pirates all drowned at sea or else were summarily executed for lying about Arion's true fate. This myth is recounted in verse by The Reverend G. R. Woodward in the chapbook "The Story of Arion and the Dolphin," copies of which are still available. Please contact us for details.
The businesses are more commonly known by their individual names, Arion Press and M&H Type.
On November 12, 2019, the San Francisco Small Business Commission voted to add Arion Press and M&H Type (as Lyra Corporation) to the San Francisco Legacy Business Registry. The Registry intends to honor and preserve “longstanding community-serving businesses that are recognized as valuable cultural assets to San Francisco by the Office of Small Business. Preserving Legacy Businesses is critical to maintaining what makes San Francisco a unique and special place.”