John Kelsey
Writer, Editor in Chief Fine Woodworking Magazine

John Kelsey has spent 50 years writing and editing books and magazines about woodworking and furniture design. But in the 1970s Kelsey almost became a furniture maker instead, until his skills as a newspaper journalist pushed him back into publishing, to specialize in unexplored terrain.
“In the beginning everything we wrote about was new, we could open windows for woodworkers everywhere,” Kelsey recalls of his eight years as Fine Woodworking magazine’s first editor in chief. “We were riding a cultural moment, there was huge interest in crafts.”
Conference Schedule
- June 274:155:15
FS25 Mentoring Sessions & Portfolio Reviews
Kristina Madsen, Jennifer-Navva Milliken, Joyce Lin, Rosanne Somerson, Marissa Brown, Andy Buck, Katie Hudnall, Michael Hurwitz, John Kelsey, Mark Sfirri, Adam Manley
Nuts & Bolts
- June 2812:001:00
FS25 Mentoring Sessions & Portfolio Reviews
Kristina Madsen, Jennifer-Navva Milliken, Joyce Lin, Rosanne Somerson, Marissa Brown, Andy Buck, Katie Hudnall, Michael Hurwitz, John Kelsey, Mark Sfirri, Adam Manley
Nuts & Bolts
- June 284:456:00
A Conversation with the 2024-2025 AOD Honorees
Mark Sfirri, John Kelsey, Michael Hurwitz
Presentation / Everson Museum of Art