The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees

April 11, 2016
Journalist Penn (It’s All About the Bike) was clearing some of the trees around his home when he noticed that many were of the ash variety. Ash is one of the world’s most hardy and versatile woods, used to make everything from ladders and looms to fishing rods and umbrella handles. Intrigued by the species, he decided to have the tree professionally felled and processed at the local sawmill, and set out to determine how much one tree can produce. Penn charts his delightful quest, introducing readers to artisans specializing in all manner of highly specific items, including John Lloyd, the latest in his family’s line of axe handle manufacturers; Phill Gregson, a wheelwright (“an almost extinct craftsperson”); and Brian Hillerich, whose great-great-grandfather established Hillerich & Bradsby, proud makers of baseball bats. Penn also encounters bowl-turners and toboggan-makers, among other artisans. In each case, Penn manages to deftly weave the story of the wood, the product it yields, and the craftsperson into a fiendishly fascinating story as he explains the hows and whys of seasoning timber, proper wood-chopping technique, and the ash tree’s archenemy: the emerald ash borer, a type of beetle. The tree ended up producing the material for 44 objects in all; Penn doesn’t go into the details of each one, but the items he chooses to highlight give his story arc and momentum, and readers are sure to come away with a deeper appreciation for trees and the artisans who craft with wood.

May 15, 2016
A lifelong nature lover explores the versatility of the ash tree. Journalist and avid cyclist Penn (It's All about the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels, 2011) grew up beneath the shadows of an ash tree and developed an uncanny connection to it: "the gatekeeper to my dreams." In adulthood, the author lives in a small woodland area in the Black Mountains in Wales, where the ancient, self-propagating ash stands as the third most common broad-leaved variety. Penn celebrates the ash's usefulness as the building block for ladders, flooring, crutches, shovel handles, and a wide range of furniture; its leaves are also medicinal for humans and nutritious for livestock. Noting how it is supremely practical yet historically undervalued and "reduced in our minds today to a material you burn," the author comprehensively acknowledges the ash through diligent research, examples of the tree's historical and social significance, and a series of interviews with master artisans. Penn provides profiles of village craftsmen who use and respect this particular species, including a bowyer, bowl-turner, Austrian toboggan maker, baseball bat manufacturers, and, most fascinatingly, a wheelwright. The author also oversaw the professional felling of a nearby ash in order to execute a "zero-waste policy" in his discovery of how many uses could be achieved from a single tree. Infrequently but no less interestingly, Penn also touches on the more intimate relationship he shares with trees and nature; he regularly enjoys the healing, stress-relieving, and spiritual properties of "forest bathing" (strolling among old growth woodlands), something which soothed the grief of his father's sudden passing. By the conclusion of his project, Penn found 44 uses for the ash he'd felled. With an arborist mindset and smooth, poetic prose, the author reflects on the usefulness and the living splendor of trees, which he believes "summon us to witness nature; they are closest to its heart." An appreciative, environmentally sound reminder of how trees benefit and cultivate life on Earth.

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June 1, 2016

Journalist Penn, who has written for the Observer, the Sunday Times, and Conde Nast Traveller, and who wrote and presented the BBC documentary Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle, does for the artisan woodcraft industry what Michael Pollan has accomplished for the food industry. As Pollan follows meals from field to plate in Omnivores Dilemma, Penn tracks woodcraft from ash tree to axe handle, bowl, and as many other objects as he can make from one tree. Employing a conversational tone, the author goes on a hunt for the perfect tree, laying out each step in the process to construct a finished object. Readers will feel as though they are in the workshop or the forest with Penn. Woodcrafters will appreciate Penn's care in telling the story of this hobby, while readers of all types will enjoy learning about the effort and fine craftsmanship it takes to go from tree to handle. VERDICT This work of light investigative journalism on a topic the author is obviously passionate about will appeal to the artisan, the crafter, and those who like to know how things are made.--Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen, Oregon Inst. of Technology, Portland

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