MICHAEL DARNTON VIOLIN MAKER

My interest in stringed instruments of the violin family began in the sixth grade, when I took up the cello and found myself more interested in the instrument itself than in playing it. At that time I bought the first book—Violin Making As It Is and Was, by Edward Heron-Allen—of what was eventually to become an extensive library of violin books. Over thirty years ago that early interest blossomed as a second career when I left my job as a newspaper photographer and began working in the construction and repair of stringed instruments.