I owned one of his dulcimers and had a nice conversation with him not too long ago.  May his memory be a blessing!

updated by @jerry-posner: 03/12/26 06:42:58PM

This is indeed sad news.  I visited John at his home many years ago when I started building Thomas dulcimores.  He showed me his shop and his drawings of the Thomas he had measured.  He had a lot of stories to tell, all interesting.

There is an article by him in Foxfire 12.

Sad news, thank you for letting us know Ken.
John Huron was quite a Renaissance man when it came to early folk instruments. He made traditional mountain and gourd banjos, limberjacks, dulcimers, rhythm bones, and other early American instruments. I have two mouth bows made by him. One of his mountain banjos resides in the Smithsonian Museum.
His talent, skill, and knowledge is a great loss, but he left behind a great many gifts in preserving our heritage!

https://tnartscommission.org/permanentcollection/john-huron/

--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990

Thank you for sharing this sad news, Ken.  Though I never met Mr. Huron, his name is, indeed, part of current mountain dulcimer history. 

I just learned today that John Huron who led many in the building of Thomas type dulcimers died on the morning of March 6, 2026. His obituary can be found here:  John Huron . I met John when I attended Dulcimerville in Black Mountain, NC. He restored my J.E. Thomas dulcimer to playing condition and gave me the inside mold in case I decided to build one. He was a part of current mountain dulcimer history. Rest in peace, John.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."