OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

32552 J. Mark Lane <jmlane@e...> 1997‑12‑17 Bio (long but far shorter than the life itself)
Greetings!
I stumbled on this friendly place a few weeks ago, and offered 
up my old Stanley 45 on FMM. I was reminded by the Gentle 
Leaders of this bunch that folks here like to have a little info about 
those who participate. Fair enough, I said, then took off for France 
for two weeks. (Saw many old tools. More on that later.) Now 
I'm back and have no further excuses. Although the prospect of writing 
a bio has had me deeply depressed for a couple weeks now, I figure I 
better have at it, since I seem unable to resist posting to this fine 
group. Get out yer kerchifs.
I am a 40 year old (sob sob) male human living not far from New York 
City (further sobs). I was born and raised in North Carolina, the 
finest State in this Great Union, but have lived in New York for... 
seemingly forever. I am sort of single, although there always seems to 
be a SWMBO not far away (looking over shoulder). By profession, I am an 
attorney (hiding under table). By disposition, I am a bum. Some people 
will find that combination unremarkable. I used to be a carpenter 
(alas). Back then I contributed Things to the World. I also had a nice 
cabinet shop with a full complement of p*w*r and hand tools. I turned a 
lot of bowls in my spare time, made lots of nice little boxes, and was 
just getting interested in luthiery (made a few old fashioned banjos) 
when some form of insanity took over my life and drove me to law school, 
against all my good judgment and against the advice of many who cared 
about me. That was longer ago than I care to discuss. When I started 
law school, I knew that I was going to Save the World. The World, 
however, has not been Saved. Probably that's because instead of going 
off to work for some nice public interest group, I went off to Wall 
Street. In uncomfortable suits that I hated, I trapsed into the office 
of One of The Big Firms every day (and night, sob) for a number of 
miserable years. Finally, I said to hell with it and started a small 
practice in the suburbs. Suddenly, I had some time. Suddenly, I looked 
around. Suddenly, I realized I had lost touch with most of the things 
that used to bring me personal satisfaction, like making things, like 
contributing Something to the World (which is still not Saved). I 
noticed that my house had a garage, which was mostly just filled with 
junk. I also noticed that it also had a nice basement. It occurred to 
me that tools would fit in them (we won't discuss what kinds of tools). 
It also occurred to me that I could make things for my sailboat (which 
is, I confess, my first passion). Over the last year or so, I have been 
gradually acquiring tools and setting up a shop. I also remembered that 
I used to sort of collect old tools (that is, I bought interesting old 
tools when I saw them and I had lots of 'em laying around). I found a 
few of them. My Stanley 45 had been in my office when I was "on Wall 
Street" because my firm represented Stanley in fending off a hostile 
takeover a few years back, and I was the first young (well, sort of) 
lawyer assigned to the litigation side. The 45 was my inspiration in 
those late nights. Lots of people wandered into the conference room 
where I had it displayed and asked "What the hell is that?" I digress. 
It's all a digression. Anyway, most of my old tools are off somewhere 
"in storage" (various somewheres, actually). Some are gone forever, I'm 
sure. But I'm looking forward to acquiring some new old tools, and to 
*using* them, and to cavorting with others who suffer from the same 
ilness. So there you have it. My attempt at a bio. I would like to 
add that this seems like a very fine bunch of people and I'm looking 
forward to hanging about. 
J. Mark Lane
Mamaroneck, New York



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