My association with Frank Lloyd Wright falls into three primary time zones.
The first is a memory from my childhood. In the mid 1950's, as a child, somehow I came across the work of Mr. Wright, I have no memory of the context, only the incident. I remember telling my mother that I was quite taken with whatever I had come across and I remember my mother's reaction which was "all that stuff he does, well it is just too modern for my liking." I went outside to play and tucked away the incident for years.
My next association is the late 1960's or very early 1970's. It is during the Vietnam era and I am a hippie. Simon and Garfunkel release the now classic album "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which contains their tribute " So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright". . . . . the lyric goes.
So long, Frank Lloyd Wright
I can't believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.
I'll remember Frank Lloyd Wright
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.
Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you.
Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
So long, Frank Lloyd Wright
I can't believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.
At the time I was very into music, and I remember thinking about that interchange I had with my mother a decade or so earlier, and I wondered . . . . . hmmmmm . . . if they are singing about Frank Lloyd Wright, maybe I should learn more. Then I went about my hippie times and set it aside.
My next contact was the most influential and directly led not only to my fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright, but also an awareness in myself that to strive to become an eccentric was a worthy goal. A goal that is now a part of the fabric of my life. In the mid to late 1970's I met Jim Gehr
Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you.
