Making a Shed with Hank Hoag
I was at Home Depot the other day to pick up some supplies for my project. A young man was leaving with a couple of sticks of tongue and groove boards for his project and I was reminded of Hank Hoag.
To be clear I am building a shed but Hank Hoag has not been with us for a very long time. The shed is taking a larger portion of our small backyard than my wife would prefer but she is indulging me. The shed will become my darkroom and studio so Morse Bros Studios can continue in the fashion to which we are accustomed.
I debated shed kits or having one built but the kits don’t fit my needs well and having one built would not fit my wallet and I do like making things. It has ended up being 8x11 feet to fit the yard with 8 x 8 ft reserved for the darkroom. It will be insulated and have electrical power.
As to how I have the confidence to build this takes us to Hank Hoag who was an old friend of my family when I was growing up. He lived down the street from my family home in Flagstaff. While I knew Hank I did not know much about him. He was an architect by training (and a keen photographer with a darkroom!) and he worked on the Flagstaff Planning and Zoning Commision with my dad which I suppose was how they became acquainted.
Hank also had other civic involvements as did my parents at the time. Hank’s wife Liz was a Brit who had an abiding passion for caring for the elderly and she wanted to have a small assisted living facility. This becomes the connection. Hank set about building an extension with three bedrooms for the guests.
My dad encouraged me to go work with Hank and however shy and nervous I probably was, I was glad I accepted. I suppose I was about 13 or 14 years old at the time. I spent a good portion of the summer helping Hank and his sometimes carpenter Lynn Clegg build this addition.
I learned many things from Hank and Lynn. We built the entire addition ourselves from the cinder-block foundation to the shake shingle roof with skylights. All the carpentry, plumbing, and electrical. I learned all kinds of practical skills during that summer. Including how to install that tongue and groove panelling on a vaulted ceiling. Also I learned how to work with other men. How a good sense of humor would get you through a long tiring day.
Hank was a devilishly smart man. He would play pranks all the time. He treated me as an equal and always took time to explain what we were doing and why. He was a great teacher. I also recall he was a contrarian and had much to do with developing the contrarian streak in me. On any topic he would take a different stance or viewpoint than the one being presented. It was exciting mental gymnastics and it serves one well though it may mark you as eccentric or difficult.
Hank was also a terribly kind man as was his wife Liz. Every lunchtime Liz would prepare us sandwiches and tomato soup. To this day I am still fond of tomato soup probably because of this. The FM radio played all day and I remember listening to the old radio program by Paul Harvey called The Rest of The Story. It was a different simpler time.
Thinking on my friendship with Hank I am reminded how important it is for young men to be in contact with older men as they grow up. My parents did that with me and it was an important part of my upbringing. The importance of this in this age of broken families cannot be underestimated.
I can now look at Hank’s old house on Google Streetview. The street is paved, the trees larger and denser than I remember, and if I look down the driveway I just make out the extension. Yes it is still there and the aerial view confirms it with the two skylights. The shingles are asphalt now.
Hank passed many years ago. His wife Liz moved to Northern California to take care of her sister and died not long after. Her younger brother still lives in Flagstaff. He moved to Flagstaff from Britain when I was in college and we became good friends for a while.
I sit now amid this modest project and am reminded of all the things I learned. The warmth of those summer days and the warmth of the friendships I made then. How well a couple of good men could set a young man on his path in life and find it returned full circle to this.
Thanks Hank.
