Sam Maloof In Memoriam

The Woodworking Icon Whose Work Supplied the Inspiration for this Website 

As the DVD and book were going to replication and press, I learned that Sam Maloof passed away on May 22, 2009 at age 93.

It goes without saying, there wouldn’t be a “Build a Maloof Inspired Rocker with Charles Brock”, without him. I recently taught a woodworking class on the subject of the rocker in a room he had taught in many times. There were two huge pictures of him hanging on the walls and I felt like he was with me guiding me along.

I spent a weekend with him in Atlanta several years ago at a workshop. Sam was the ever humble genius at work even though there were problems with the equipment, he never stopped or complained. He worked and taught wonderfully as if everything was perfect.

Sam was an icon in so many ways. He made a living doing what he wanted to do. Instead of selling his designs for manufacture or mass producing them he built them one at a time. He rose well beyond the title he loved, “woodworker”, to become the most inspiring furniture maker/ designer of the late 20th century.

Sam crafted functional forms from his gifted visions. They serve as an inspiration for us all!