Graham Blackburn

Graham Blackburn was born in London, England in 1940. After studying at the Juilliard School in New York he played and recorded with numerous bands, including Van Morrison, Full Tilt Boogie, and Razmataz. He has published four novels and an autobiography about his musical career (see the recently published: Andante: from London to Woodstock). He has also published more than a dozen books on all aspects of housebuilding, interior carpentry, and basic woodwork, as well as books on traditional woodworking, cabinetmaking, furnituremaking, handtools, and design, together with books on philately and sailing. While running his own custom furnituremaking shop—selling nationwide and exhibiting at some of the country's top shows—he also became a frequent contributor to leading magazines such as Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, and Woodwork—-of which he was also the Editor-in-Chief for a number of years. As well as being a prolific writer and illustrator, he has been the subject of several books on crafts and design. He was featured in Maxine Rosenberg's Artists of Handcrafted Furniture at Work: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard; and Jane Smiley's Catskill Crafts: Artisans of the Catskill Mountains: Crown Publisher, and has made numerous television appearances, including serving as the national spokesperson for Boyle-Midway's media campaign: Secrets of the Master Craftsmen. He was a featured speaker at the nationwide Woodworking Shows from 2001 to 2011 and a frequent lecturer at Guilds and colleges from coast to coast.