Well, my searching and letter-writing tactics have paid off. I've managed to
finally make contact with, and get the story on things from Mr. Parrish himself. I have to thank a couple of people that I found on these forums, as they were able to lead me right to him, and at least get me to his door. I took it from there.
The
Official word from Mr. Parrish is;
' I found that it wasn't possible to make a living just making knives, so I began devoting my time to other pursuits. I no longer take orders for knives.'
I can certainly understand where Mr. Parrish is coming from, and it was nice to
finally be able to talk to him once again. Of course, I'm going to continue my rappor with him, and just see if I can catch up with how things have been doing with him. It certainly is sad to see a good knife maker leave the fold, but we've all got to put food on the table. It's easy to forget at times what this is all about for the custom makers out there, when we try to get a
little better deal on that knife we've been lusting for.
Hopefully this will make people stop and think a little bit, as I now I have started to, when they deal with custom knife makers. Realise that these people devote a
lot of time to making these creations, and becoming the artisans that they are. What kind of price would you put on
your heart and soul? I'll certainly be more considerate of this in the future, I can assure you of that.
It makes me
very glad that I
still have the priviledge of owning one of his knives, and I don't imagine I'll be trying to get rid of it anytime soon. I've relied on it on many adventures, and it served me very well. I guess I also consider it one of those landmark examples of how certain fads can so totally influence people.
While I'd like to lie, and say I wish all the best to Mr. Parrish in his dealings
outside of the knife world, the
truth is that I'd rather pull him kicking and screaming right back into our fold!
But, we can't
all have what we want now, can we?
I thank
everyone who has tried to help me, with leads, information, and support. I truly consider these forums
the definitive knife community. It also stands as one of the best examples of how the internet has helped to make this big world a little smaller, and allow all of us to share in this great passion.
Cheers!
