John (Colly) Norman was born in the late 40’s and grew up in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida. “When I was 18, hanging around as a teenager in Miami, I had a friend named Skip Ruck whose brother was always in their parents’ garage building guitars. Though I never met the brother, the idea of building a musical instrument intrigued me throughout the next thirty five years of construction, custom woodworking, aviation, and other creative endeavors.”