Member Profile: Jack Northrop

Jack was born in Girard and attended Union High School.  He worked at American Sterilizer (Steris) for 36 years, retiring in 1999.  His first contact with turning was Giles Gilson at the Erie Library.

He started turning while building a bedroom set about 26 years ago.  He is self taught and started with a few bowls and then coat trees.  He went to a symposium in Annapolis, Maryland where he saw John Jordan, David Ellsworth, Stony Lamarr, and Bonnie Klein.  This event piqued his interest in turning because he saw things at this symposium that he had not seen in any books.  He joined the PIW shortly after it was formed.  He still enjoys letting the wood dictate what he turns.  He moved into his current home which he built five years before retirement in Kane, PA.