In 2001, I became acquainted with one of the world’s last Renaissance men, an American who speaks Portuguese like a Brazilian, plays the piano like a concert pianist, and knows how to frame his own home. When the retention pond beside his house became choked, he hopped into a Bobcat and dug it out. When I asked him how he learned to operate heavy equipment, he responded, “It really isn’t that hard.” He said the same thing when he finished restoring a classic Austin Healey: “It really wasn’t that hard.”
John Thorpe’s long list of skills goes well beyond carpentry, auto restoration, music, linguistics, landscaping, and driving a backhoe; it also extends to human renewal. I know this for a fact. My entire family has benefited from his talents.