Several weeks ago, I asked to hear about your woodworking heroes. Three of you replied with wonderful examples! Please be sure to read them in today’s Feedback section.
A fourth reader simply offered this: “Norm Abram. Need I say more?”
How many of us over the age of 40 were influenced by “The New Yankee Workshop” show on PBS? I’ll venture to guess nearly all of us of that vintage eagerly tuned in on Saturday mornings for that glorious half-hour program. I rarely missed it. Norm had a shop that was the envy of every home woodworker on a budget. He used fantastic lumber to build a wide range of projects using methods that seemed both doable and fun. The show set a new standard for DIY woodworking education and gave so many of us the push we needed to venture into this fine craft.
I think it was Norm’s unassuming, welcoming demeanor that did it for me. He seemed like that father/uncle/buddy with the skills and gentle temperament to teach but without the ego to need to be recognized for it. I was hooked — both on his woodworking and how the show convinced me that building a project is really telling a story. And that influence, plus several lucky opportunities, is why I’ve had the great fortune to spend the past 23 years of my career building projects and telling their stories.
He was the shop teacher of a class that devoted viewers would never dream of skipping. Norm Abram a hero? For me, absolutely.
Chris Marshall, Woodworker’s Journal
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