The ninth knifemaker from the 1981 Knifemakers’ Guild Directory is Les Berryman. According to his bio, Les is a part-time elevator mechanic and a part-time knifemaker. Sort of an unusual combination, I suppose, but I can envision situations in which it might come in handy. He was influenced by the work of Barry Wood and Bob Loveless, and if you don’t know who they are, why, you’ll have to join me in not knowing who they are. Unlike most of the previous bios, this one ends with a stark command: “Visit him in his shop, now!” Ok, I added the “, now!”

One thing about Les that I really like is the shirt that he chose for his formal Knifemakers Guild photo. It has an Escher-bird type pattern, which may have been standard photo fare in 1981, but is subtly interesting today.

Les Berryman today

Sadly, I can’t find much of anything about Les Berryman today. He is no longer a member of the Knifemakers’ Guild. His knives are still around and still show up for sale once in a while. This one, for example, is being sold for nearly $1,000:

There was a Lesley Berryman who appeared in a few films under the name Les Berryman in the 1960s and 1970s, though I think that Les Berryman would have been too young in 1981 to be the man pictured above. One site apparently has a photo of Les and Carol Berryman (listed as Les’s wife in his bio), but the webpage appears to be down and is not archived.

Where are you Les Berryman?

There’s a councilman Les Whinen joke in here somewhere, but I haven’t quite pinned it down yet.

Previous knifemaker: Ray Beers
Next knifemaker: Sid Birt

Other 1981 Knifemaker’s Guild Directory Pages: first page, all pages.