Norm Abram (born October 3, 1949) is an American carpenter, writer, and television host best known for his work on the PBS television programs This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop. He is a carpenter and has published several books and articles about the craft.
Early life and education
Abram was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and raised in Milford, Massachusetts, where he attended high school. His father was a carpenter, who taught his son many of his practical skills. Abram first worked on a client's site at the age of 9, helping his father install hardwood floors. He worked with his father during summer vacations in high school and college. who had produced Julia Child's popular cooking program The French Chef for WGBH-TV in Boston. Impressed by Abram's small scrap pile
thumb|Norm Abram (left), with [[United States Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|HUD Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi (center), and This Old House host Kevin O'Connor (right), at a renovation site in 2006]]
The New Yankee Workshop
In 1988, Morash planned to launch a spinoff of This Old House called The New Yankee Workshop, featuring Abram. They needed a convenient place to videotape, and used the shop in the small building that Abram built in 1979 in Morash's backyard. The New Yankee Workshop was first aired in 1989 with Abram as the host.
Other projects
Abram is on the board of trustees of Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.
Awards and recognition
The American Academy of Ophthalmology awarded Abram its EyeSmart Distinguished Service Award on April 23, 2009. The award was presented for "his steadfast commitment to safety and the prevention of eye injuries".
In 2018, Abram was selected for the Ken Burns Lifetime Achievement Award by the filmmaker who, with Old Sturbridge Village, gives the award to "individual[s] who [have] made a significant impact on the arts through a project that is relevant to the history Old Sturbridge Village works to preserve".
In 2022, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored Abram along with This Old House with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 49th Daytime Emmy Awards.
Personal life
Norm Abram has lived with his wife, Elise (a potter), He wrote his book Norm Abram's New House (1995) based on his experiences planning and building the house.
More recently, he bought a new old house in Rhode Island near the coast, where he plans to build a new woodworking shop, and he is also interested in learning shipbuilding. with whom he has a daughter, Lindsey.