A former fine furniture maker, Tom Harrington, has spent the past 17 years passing on his wood working knowledge to dedicated craftspeople keen to hone and fine tune their skills.

Mr Harrington has shared his expertise with more than 180 mature age students through the 12-month courses in certificate IV woodworking at the Sturt School for Wood in Mittagong.

Sadly, 2008 is the final year Mr Harrington, 57, will lead the course for the final time after being diagnosed with the rare cancer, mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma generally starts in the outer membrane of the lungs (pleura), but can also occur in the lining of the abdominal cavity.

There is currently no cure for the disease unless it can be removed by an operation.

Unfortunately, by the time mesothelioma is diagnosed, it has usually already spread beyond the point where it could be removed by an operation.

Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos and can develop decades after the exposure.

Mr Harrington steps down from his role at Sturt with fond memories and the reward of knowing he has helped many people expose and nurture a strong talent in woodworking.

In fact, Mr Harrington said that teaching, and watching people develop a talent they never realised they had, was a career high.

“I worked for six years as a fine furniture maker in Canberra before taking on the position as a teacher at Sturt in a job that was most rewarding,” he said.

“I taught about 12 students each year with most having very little woodworking experience.

“They were, in most cases, mature age people who had long dreamed of doing woodwork but not had the time to learn the craft."

For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Wednesday, December 10

jackie.meyers@ruralpress. com