Meet
the People who inspired
THE
CARPENTER'S NOTEBOOK
I
have been influenced and affected by the good people in my life
who contribute something to the universe. They live richly and purely
and I am lucky for knowing them and being a part of their lives.—Mark
Clement
Arthur
Isadore Pelletier. In The Carpenter’s Notebook ,
Gideon builds his first house for Arthur Pelletier. Arthur was Mark’s
grandfather and as close to a dad as he ever had. Arthur, a man
of meager schooling, but monumental wisdom, lived by a code. That
code he expressed through the many sayings he shared in conversation.
Perhaps his greatest is his simplest, and speaks to the inviolable
dignity with which he lived his humble life: Character is who you
are when nobody’s looking. Arthur died when Mark was young, but
he believes as his mother does, that Arthur still looks out for
his family, from out there in the ether along with his wife, Kay
Herlihy.
Janice
Theresa Clement. Without Mark’s mother’s desire to know
and understand her own very hard life and without her willingness
to share with her son what she’s learned, this book would not be
written. She shares more stories now than ever of her father and
tells Mark his great aphorisms, the rules by which he lived his
life. Each is a treasure.
Michael
Patrick Walsh. Mike’s father was a carpenter. Mike revered
his dad and shared stories about him that inspired portions of Gideon’s
story. Mike’s dad is gone now, but Mark truly hopes the spirit of
those stories lives here in The Carpenter’s Notebook ,
stories about a boy’s love for his father. Mike also helped design,
detail, and build a lot of the projects in this book. His house
in Southern Maryland is the set for all of Gideon’s photos. We do
good work—and that’s the truth.
Kevin
Ryan Morrison. Kevin thought of the title of the book
while he and Mark built a deck together in the Georgetown neighborhood
of Washington, DC. Kevin and Mark met laughing as freshman at
Saint Michael’s College, and have laughed and remained friends
since.
David
Walter Juliano. Dave too was a college roommate of Mark’s
at Saint Michael’s College. He
is the guy who “does not do what is comfortable; he does what is
right.” And he lives a good life because of it.
Don
Dunkley and Steve Veroneau. Both of these
guys have sawdust running in their veins. Both builders, they are also
craftsmen of good projects and good lives. They have helped Mark
with building advice and have gotten him out of some home improvement
jams. More importantly, they have helped Mark with life-improvement
projects sharing their experience and good energy as easily and
quickly as they build things that last.
Dr.
Carey Kaplan. Mark’s favorite English professor at
Saint Michael’s College she taught him (at least) one thing
that has stuck with him and that he uses every time he thinks about
a story: “Pay attention to the first sentence.”
• Visit
the Places that inspired The Carpenter’s Notebook
• Check
out the books, music, and movies that inspired The Carpenter’s
Notebook
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