Charming, humorous, sometimes tragic, and always fascinating vignettes
from a life spent in 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, created 250 pieces of original
carousel carving, and was the head carver and executive director of New
York's landmark Empire State Carousel Project, Holzman 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.
Wanderings of a Wayward Woodcarver is Holzman's record of a lifetime
spent in the craft and the many lessons it has taught him about what it
means to be a carver and what it means to be a human being, plus a
recounting of the many memorable characters he has met along the way.
From master carver Gino Masero, who taught Holzman much about carving,
life, creativity, and decency, to Holzman's students who touched his
life deeply, to a sign carver who could not read, a witch who invited
Holzman to visit her coven, and the mafioso who showed Holzman how to
prevent his carvings from being stolen, Wanderings of a Wayward
Woodcarver shows how a life in craft is the perfect viewpoint to see
the whole of the human condition.
