Shortly after the Civil War, Gilbert Palmer Smith made a walnut secretary for his daughter Emily, who had married Sergeant Erastus Harris a few years earlier. That secretary was eventually given to my father, and I grew up thinking that if my grandfather's great-grandfather could make furniture, so could I. My father taught me how to use a hand saw when I was a little boy, and although he deprecates his part in my vocation, that was really the beginning.

During my last year of high school I had the opportunity to become apprenticed to an old time violin maker in Los Angeles. That is where I discovered that I could really make wood do what I wanted it to, and I loved it. The best recreation is still working at the work bench with hand tools and an instrument. I maintain a number of antique tools, and it is part of my private enjoyment to use these in my work.

I discovered harp making when my youngest daughter wanted a harp, and as most harp makers have learned,
it is a compelling interest. When Jill Whitman, a teacher and performer from NW Washington wanted a harp for the growing child, with action that closely fit the action of a pedal harp, it was both a challenging and fascinating project. I wanted to meet the criteria Jill had outlined for her needs as a teacher, and I wanted to make a harp that surpassed the tone qualities of the average student harp. We were both delighted with the results.

Psalm 16 says "...the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places." I remember that when I think how glad I am to make my living doing work I enjoy.

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