“At 15 [my father] revolted against his father like any teenager, and said, "I'm out of here! What are you doing to me?" He thought he wouldn't be involved in that kind of stuff for the rest of his life. He just wanted to make money. He was one of those people who took over the family responsibility. His own father was pretty irresponsible with money and borrowed from people all the time.” PeopleKindSaidWantedFatherStuffResponsibilityInvolvedMaking MoneyTeenagerIrresponsibleBorrowedFamily Responsibility Author:Paul Laffoley
“When [my father] reached his majority, he was the head of the family. Everybody depended upon him. He went into a very uptight appearance; he would wear Chesterfield coats to work, Homburg hats, really getting into the whole thing. He knew people like Oscar Levant. He loved New York. He wanted to live there.” PeopleWholeWantedFatherNew YorkMajorityAppearanceHatsOscarsCoatsUptight Author:Paul Laffoley
“[My father] was always upset that my mother didn't want to live in New York. Because he said he wanted to live in a hotel and not have to mow the lawn and all that. In other words, he never liked sports clothes, he always liked to be dressed up formally, 24/7. And he drove big cars and, you know, just loved to act the banker.” KnowsWantSaidBigsWantedMotherFatherSportsCarNew YorkClothesUpsetHotelBankersLawnsDressed UpBig Cars Author:Paul Laffoley
“I really wanted to study with Bruce Goff [one of the masters of "organic architecture"] at the University of Oklahoma.” WantedStudyMastersUniversityArchitectureOklahomaOrganic Architecture Author:Paul Laffoley
“Buckminster Fuller was down in Pennsylvania, then he'd come up and go to his island in Maine. He wanted to remain a New Englander. He taught from '48 to '49 and '50 at Black Mountain College. That's where he met Kenneth Snelson. Fuller kind of stayed a Yankee right in the New England area. So it was pretty easy to get him to come on over, and we would have lectures at the Harvard Science Center.” KindWantedEasyBlackTaughtCollegeMetsMountainAreasEnglandCome UpIslandsYankeesLecturesHarvardEasy To GetNew EnglandPennsylvaniaMaineBuckminster FullerKenneth Author:Paul Laffoley
“I went to the Mary Lee Burbank School in Belmont. And it was a place where you, like, learned to go to the store? And I was saying, Oh God, I want to learn something else. I wanted to learn to read and write better and do mathematics better. They were very much into Abstract Expressionism and that artsy stuff. And where most kids did what I call meaningless blobs, I could render perfectly.” WantWritingKidsWantedSchoolStuffMathematicsStoresAbstractCall MeMeaninglessMaryExpressionismAbstract Expressionism Author:Paul Laffoley
“[Nikola Tesla] said he had no interest in the spiritual. He didn't believe in telepathy, didn't believe in any of that stuff, didn't believe in any religion, and he just thought all these people were being superstitious and wanted them to go away. And in that way he was very close to H.P. Lovecraft, who was almost a believing atheist.” PeopleWayBelieveSaidWantedSpiritualStuffInterestAtheistGoing AwaySuperstitiousTelepathyTeslaLovecraft Author:Paul Laffoley
