I'm no master, but I learned from the best.

Woody, Mike Lambert and Ian Watts.
Having a thorough view in Dantomkia and Bigger Brother helped a lot.
But others helped too.
Niels Decarpentier (Dutch, builder of Hammerhead 1, 2 and 3, and the inventor of the Decoupled ram/flipper) and George Francis spring to mind.

Kos (Tough As Nails) is the one who kept me on track in the early, heady days were WJ (Gravity) was pushing me along insane paths.