Deb Olsen

Deb Olsen provided her views on just how the Guild of American Luthiers began during her NAMM Oral History interview. Her insight offered a wonderful background into the early idea by JR Beal and her husband, Tim Olsen, as they sought to create an organization whose members would share ideas and best practices in luthiery. Her own role in the guild was critical, from mailing out the convention invitations to keeping the books and assisting in the publishing of the guild’s informative journal. The guild has been an important element for luthiers for decades whose members might get a kick out of knowing that Deb typed the first newsletter and asked her sister, Bon Henderson (who was a faster typist), to help in those early years!