A correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous has sent The Echo a beautiful personal story about legendary master craftsman Geoff Hannah, formerly of Lismore, in response to the news about the Hannah Cabinet.
He writes, ‘Like many others I was horrified this incredible piece of cabinetry was so damaged in the 2022 flood, but now I am deeply heartened by the news of its restoration. Geoff Hannah is not only the leading talent in his field he is also the most wonderful human being and I wanted to share this story.’
The story is reproduced below
Lismore New South Wales, March 2003:
I was in Bunnings looking for some quality timber for a small job; nothing suited. I went to Hampton & Larsson and asked there, nothing available either, but a young rough as guts boy stacking the racks asked how much I needed.
‘Lot or little?’ he said, looking at me and wiping his brow with his sleeve.
‘Little,’ I replied.
With a sniff and a snort he pulled a pencil from his ear, picked up a scrap of paper from the ground and scribbled down a name and an address, ‘Try this bloke,’ and he returned to stacking racks.
The address was a modest house in a modest street in Lismore and nearby, so off I went. There I found a young man busy working in a workshop under the house. ‘Are you Geoff Hannah?’ I asked, trying to read the scribble.
‘No! Wish I was!’ He smirked ironically and pointed to another man working on a very, very big piece of cabinetry. I looked past what he was working on, to the racks and racks of fine timber he had at the very back of the workshop.
He was clearly busy, so I apologised for my dropping in and asked him if he could sell me some good timber.
He was in quite a rush but willing to accommodate. ‘Probably can,’ he said and started to pull exquisite lengths of timber from his rack. ‘There is some lovely Australian cedar here somewhere.’
‘That would be perfect,’ I said.
‘How much do you need?’ he asked.
‘Not much,’ I replied, slightly awkwardly.
‘What’s it for?’
‘A box.’
‘How big? Because there is not a lot.’
I gestured a size with my hands, about twice the size of a shoebox.
He suddenly focused on me with the pieces in his hands and then he asked so gently, ‘Who’s it for?’
‘My daughter,’ I stammered.
‘You need a coffin?’ he whispered.
I nodded.
‘Who’s going to make it?’
Unable to speak, I tapped my chest.
‘Hang on,’ he said. He totally abandoned what he was doing and got to work.
Within an hour he presented me with the most beautiful French polished Australian cedar casket and charged me only for the wood.
It was only later on, I discovered that Geoff Hannah was and is probably the greatest living cabinet maker in Australia if not the southern hemisphere and he made this for the final journey of our daughter’s short life.
Naturally those were dark times for us and it’s always been a source of pain for me that I never got the chance to thank him properly. Thank you, Geoff Hannah, you were light in the darkness, honouring our daughter with your time your talent and your kindness.
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