Long description:

Charming, humorous, sometimes tragic, but always fascinating vignettes from a lifetime of craftsmanship. They say life is a merry-go-round -- for Gerry Holzman, this has been literally and figuratively true. A master figure carver who has restored over 100 pieces of antique carousel art and created over 250 pieces of original carousel carving, he was the head carver and executive director of New York's landmark Empire State Carousel Project. Gerry has devoted the past 50 years to woodcarving and his skill has taken him around the world as a student, teacher, craftsman, and artist. Throughout this giddy merry-go-round of a career, he has encountered many intriguing ways to use our brief time on earth and invites us to accompany him as he strives to understand and appreciate them all. In Wanderings of a Wayward Woodcarver, Holzman offers a chronicle of the many extraordinary adventures that this ancient craft has provided him and the unconventional folks it has introduced him to. He also shares with us the wide-ranging lessons woodcarving has taught him about the often-overlooked connections between the work that we do, the colleagues that we do it with, and the culture that we do it for. From these delightfully varied essays, you'll learn: Why a flustered student had to remind him that, We're not all little Mr. Holzmans. How a carver who could not read was able to make signs for the State of New York. What happened when an attractive young witch invited Holzman to visit her coven; Why a fatherly Mafioso told Gerry how to prevent his carvings from being stolen. Holzman's mentor, English master carver Gino Masero, who taught Gerry as much about civility and grace as he did about carving, encouraged him to pass on the insights that they had acquired during their lives as craftsmen. The result is this remarkable book, offering a variety of truly unique perspectives for appreciating the life-affirming values that are so much a part of being human.