Basil “Joe” Jagger was a physical-education teacher. His son Mick became one of the most athletic showmen in the world, running and strutting 8 to 12 miles during a typical Rolling Stones show. He works out five or six days a week. Louis “Louie” Abram was a builder. His son, Norm, became one of the most skilled carpenters in the world, cutting and joining wood for millions of TV viewers for more than 40 years. He measures twice and cuts once. Mick and Norm are both exquisite craftsmen, dedicated to doing things right, and in their seventh decade. But that’s about where the comparisons end between these two rock stars (Norm is, for example, much calmer than Mick). But it sure proves how influential a dad can be.
Working quietly alongside his father in their Milford, Massachusetts, basement workshop in the late 1950s, Norm did not dream of fame. “Working alongside” initially meant simply watching his dad work and cleaning up—leaving him dreaming of handling real tools, a wish that came true when he received a toolbox for Christmas. “These were not tools that you would give a child today or would be allowed to give a child today,’’ Norm says. “These were the real deal. All of it was real.’’ He got his own little workbench as well, and he learned. “I was always by his side. He didn’t say much, but my father taught me by showing me what he did.”
Still, the family goal was not for son to follow father into the trades—it was education. Norm applied
