In 1960, Minsky obtained his first printing press at the age of 13 to replace rubber stamps he had been using. In 1968, he graduated cum laude in economics from Brooklyn College. Minsky was awarded a fellowship at Brown University, where he received his master's degree in economics. He pursued a Ph.D. at The New School for Social Research, but left after two years to pursue bookbinding, art and music. He studied bookbinding in Providence, Rhode Island with master bookbinder Daniel Gibson Knowlton, whom he met at the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library at Brown University. In 1974, Minsky founded the Center for Book Arts in Manhattan, the first organization of its kind in the United States dedicated to contemporary interpretations of the book as an art object while preserving traditional practices of the art of the book. In 1978, he was named a US/UK Bicentennial Fellow in Visual Art by the National Endowment for the Arts and the British Council. Minsky stated that he does not believe in talent and that he simply continues to become better at bookbinding through his persistence since his first "awful" attempts in 1968. In 2004, Yale University Library acquired Minsky's archive of published fine art editions and other works. The Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library at Yale University is hosting an exhibition of 50 years of Minsky's work from August to November 2010.
SLART trademark dispute
In 2007, Minsky founded SLART, a journal about virtual art in Second Life. On July 29, 2008, Minsky filed suit against Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, because one of its users infringed on his trademark registration of SLART. In September 2008, Linden Lab responded by filing suit with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in an attempt to cancel Minsky's trademark registration. On September 4, 2008, the U.S. District Court of Northern New York granted Minsky a temporary restraining order barring the use of SLART by other Second Life users. The court order from federal judge Lawrence E. Kahn documented Minsky's contention that the term SLART has multiple colloquial or slang meanings, "including a slut’s fart, a fart made while sleeping, and someone who is between a slut and a tart." In October 2008, the court granted a preliminary injunction in Minsky's favor. On October 10, Linden Lab sought to terminate Minsky's Second Life account. On January 22, 2009. the case was settled out of court and the trademark filing was cancelled on April 7, 2009.
