Born an army brat, Mr. Irwin was almost born in Germany. But thanks to the military's timing, was born to his parents delight, in the USA. Raised in the Deep South on the Gulf of Mexico, Mr. Irwin would learn the basic skills that would start him on a journey of a lifetime, and eventually bring him where he is today. But it was not an easy journey. Mr. Irwin's mother at the time of his birth was exposed to German measles causing a serious heart defect in the lad. By the time he was in 7th grade, open heart surgery was not an option. Blessed by God, the surgeons that performed the operation, succeeded with no problems. But it would take some time before little Hank would be running and playing like the rest of the children he grew up with. Worried, his mother put out a safety net that if the family doctor had not warned saying, "Do not pamper this child ever, let him grow up to be a normal kid," he might not have grown up knowing what a "normal" life should be like. But nevertheless, his father was determined not to let his son grow up to be coddled or worse, a spoiled sissy. At the age of 5 his father started teaching him to play the piano. His father was a virtuoso in playing many, many instruments, not to mention read and write music also. But by the time little Hank got to a grade level in elementary school that offered him music lessons, no piano instruction was available. The clarinet would become his best friend for the next 10 years. Hank's father was skilled in many creative endeavors. He was a musician, artist, writer, and had the ability to just master things in a relatively short time. This would be a trait young Hank would unknowingly inherit. By the time 1970 came about, the clarinet had been replaced by the guitar. The trappings of being an "A" listed clarinetist had started to take it's toll on the lad. There concerts, public appearances, and finally the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back...marching laboriously in parade functions. After one year and the refusal of his teacher to let young Hank quit the marching band, Hank decided...no more school band period. The Beatles were a lot more interesting than Benny Goodman ever could be, in his mind. Buying a 50 "Hits of the Beatles" guitar book and countless blisters on his fingers, Mr. Irwin became quite the guitar player that he now is today.
Mr. Irwin's father was quite the accomplished artist and his talent he would lend to his son at an early age also. At one point young Hank would have rathered draw and paint than do anything else. During his healing period from heart surgery, he would spend hours and hours everyday drawing anything that struck his fancy. During elementary and junior high school hours he would constantly be corrected for drawing during class time instead of his class work. This only frustrated him to the point of spending his waking hours after school, locked away in his room drawing. But when he got to high school all that changed. His training would take on a whole new meaning and he would eventually develop his own style in the world of illustration. Comic books were quite the fashion among kids his age, and he ate it up. Still to this day Mr. Irwin is a lover of comic book tales and illustration. He had hopes of being an illustrator for Walt Disney at one time, but as it is in life, sometimes you wind up further away from your dreams than you ever expected. But art, like all the rest of the things he learned to do, has stayed with him all his life, in one form or another. His road would eventually lead him to be a Carpenter by trade, but not just your ordinary carpenter either. Mr. Irwin has been involved with Fortune 50 companies in the building industry and has built award winning projects that have made their ways around the world in the tradeshow/exhibit industry, as well as the world of Woodsmithing. Mr. Irwin is also a metalsmith/weapons maker with over 40 years of experience. He has also been involved in the martial arts for over 40 years, and is a 5th degree black belt in Okinawan karate and a weapons maker for that discipline. Mr. Irwin's life has not been without diversity, albeit the heart surgery and Oskins disorder 3 years in a row.( A debilitating growth in the knee caps usually associated with competitive runners, which he was involved with in grade school.) He has had a few bumps and bruises along the way. A broken back in 1975 while working as a roughneck in the gulf...completely healed despite what doctors said. Shot twice, stabbed 3 times, broke in 6 places his jaw, cracked eyesocket orbital, nose broken 7 times, and hopefully the last of his setbacks...an accident in 2006 that left him paralyzed from head to toe. You might equate him with "Job" from the Bible, except he tells me he is no Job, far be it from him to think he is even worthy enough to go through what Job went through. But nevertheless, he did lose just about everything he owned. Losing his wife of 27 years in 2004, then the fall in 2006, which resulted in a domino effect that would change his life forever. Lost his house, almost lost his daughter to boot, and everything except his tools and some clothing was he able to salvage of 28 years of family life. You'd think he would just lay down and die, like Job's wife told him to do. Right. Not so with Mr. Irwin. He is a man of faith and his belief in God will not be swayed. Helps that he is part Irish and Indian...hard to keep an Indian at bay...try to keep an Irishman down and see what happens.
With all this in his life, you'd wonder what he'd do next. Not able to function in the capacity he used to be used to, left him with a certain uncertainty in his life, not to mention a huge void in his heart. After losing his home an old friend got word of his plight and took him in. If not for that, Mr. Irwin may have very well perished in the streets, alone. But as things would have it, not so. Mr. Irwin stayed with his wonderful friend, along with his wife and son for a little over a year. Once he was able to get disability benefits, he was able to move on his own, despite the fact that he would not be able to do everything on his own as before. Was not easy, but while staying at his friends home, he had decided to take a nap one day the week prior to Thanksgiving in 2006. And when he had fallen asleep, he had an extraordinary dream that would lead him to a place his childhood so lovingly remembered. To the Land of Make Believe. A story came...and here we are. And now another journey begins.......