Secrets of State
Edward Durell Stone: A Son’s Untold Story Of A Legendary Architect — Rizzoli New York Genius And Controversy Hallmarks Of Extraordinary Achievement The life of the son of an architect can be trying, whether Dad is an academic dreamer or a titan who lands big jobs. In the case of Hicks Stone, the ordeal was exacerbated by the white heat radiated by his father Edward Durrel Stone, one of the most successful and controversial architects of the 20th century.
As time and history soothe the giant waves that crashed around pere Stone, Hicks (an architect too) set out to write a crucial biography of his father — and found that the strong opinions about the elder Stone have not abated. Yet the years have elevated his father to the uppermost echelons of architectural posterity. He has rightly achieved immortality despite his jealous and petty peers who worked strenuously to prevent his ascendancy.
Ed Stone’s works around the world speak for themselves: From MOMA to Radio City Music Hall; from the American Exhibition at the Brussels Word Fair to the US Embassy in New Delhi; from the Kennedy Center to the State House in Raleigh, North Carolina, a project that included my father Ralph Reeves as Associate Architect. This same team later collaborated on the original NC Museum of Art and the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building on the Duke University Campus. As Hicks Stone prepared for the giant undertaking to write about his father, a building in Raleigh did not appear on his radar. But after uncovering a poem by the iconic architect Buckminster Fuller written to his father, he began to take notice. And yes the Legislative Building is provided several pages in the book. But it was just as surprising to Hicks Stone to discover that the jealousy and criticism of Ed Stone here was as virulent and unwarranted as the back-biting in the big cities.Hicks, the issue of Ed Stone’s first marriage, says he didn’t know his father well. But he found himself drawn to be an architect anyway. He was attending a lecture at Harvard when his father’s work came up — followed by vitriol by the professor and hissing from his fellow students. Then he realized there was a problem he couldn’t understand. The elder Stone had made the cover of Time and was lionized as the most successful American architect. Why was there a knee-jerk and uniform negative reaction to his father’s work?  Read the book and learn more. But in summary Ed Stone would not bow to the pure modernism of the International Style bred in the Bauhaus, the German school and movement that crossed to the US in the works and theories (mostly theory) of Marxist-influenced designers and artists dedicated to the New World Order. These “white box” modernists helped shape the mid to late 20th century landscape by desecrating the “ornamentation” of the Bourgeoisie who aped the art and architecture of the ruling classes of Europe. Buildings would be for the workers and beauty be damned. Stone developed an historic sensibility to cope with the onset of the modern, drawing on classical lines and human sensitivity to create a synthesis that imbues his buildings with a proper sense of occasion and an uncanny ability to maintain gravitas even in the company of concrete “carbuncles” and the retro designs that supplanted the grossly modern. This is a beautifully illustrated book to own and treasure and keep as a reference. Hicks Stone is objective about his father’s personal weaknesses as he is transcendent in his own journey to understand the mysteries, controversy and genius of his illustrious father. — Bernie Reeves
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman To Speak At Duke General Martin Dempsey will deliver the 2011 Ambassador S. Davis Phillips Family International Lecture at 5:30 p.m. in Duke’s Page Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required, with a limit of two per person. Tickets can be obtained through the Duke Box Office at (919) 684-4444 or via tickets.duke.edu. Those unable to attend can view a live webcast at ustream.tv/dukeuniversity.
Dempsey is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, serving as adviser to the president, secretary of defense and the National Security Council. He earned a master’s degree in English from Duke in 1984. He has held commands in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as posts in the Middle East and Europe. In 2007, Dempsey served as acting commander of U.S. Central Command and became chief of staff of the Army earlier this year.
His awards and decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Defense Superior Service Medal.
The Duke event is sponsored by the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy and co-sponsored by the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Office of Global Strategy and Programs. For more information, visit the Triangle Institute for Security Studies website, http://sanford.duke.edu/centers/tiss.
Owl Theory Could Have Its Day In New Peterson Trial Now that Michael Peterson has been granted a new trial for the alleged murder of his wife Kathleen based on improper blood analysis by the State Bureau of Investigation, readers will remember that Metro Magazine has questioned the verdict because the prosecution did not make its case that claimed the wounds on the victim’s head were administered by a fireplace “blow poke”. The hypothetical weapon was discovered near the end of the trial unblemished in the garage of the Peterson home.
Metro also publicized the theory presented by Durham attorney and Peterson’s next door neighbor Larry Pollard that perhaps an owl attacked Kathleen Peterson outside the home. The wounds on her head and elbows bear this out, as evidenced in the autopsy photographs published in the July 2005 issue of the magazine (go to www.metronc.com/article/?id=19). This was the last time autopsy photos could be published in the media based on a law passed by the NC Legislature motivated by the published autopsy photos of race car driver Dale Earnhardt – and perhaps influenced by the Peterson case.
Pollard suffered ridicule until it was learned that owls attack people – and two feather particles were discovered in the evidence held by the prosecutors. While the blood analysis scandal at SBI has re-opened the trial, the owl theory continues to gain credence.
Duke Cancer Institute Names New Director Dr. Michael B. Kastan, cancer scientist and pioneer in describing molecular and cellular events that cause cancer and its progression, and former director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, has been named executive director of the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI).
Dr. Richard D. Klausner, the former director of the National Cancer Institute, past executive director for global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and current member of the Duke University Health System board of directors said, "Mike Kastan stands out as one of the most thoughtful and important leaders of his generation of cancer physician-researchers." Kastan arrives in time for the slated February 2012 opening of the new seven-story Duke Cancer Center designed to provide convenient multidisciplinary patient care. Kastan said he will work to develop further the clinical research mission within DCI to design, implement, monitor and report clinical research and develop research into novel therapies for patients.
Kastan was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2009. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1995); named a Stohlman Scholar by the Leukemia Society of America (1999); elected to the Association of American Physicians (2003); and won the AACR-GHA Clowes Memorial Award (2007) for outstanding contributions to basic cancer research.
Go to www.cancer.duke.edu to view a video by Kastan and hear more about his appointment.
EYES ONLY
On February 23, Arts Together will host the “Arts Together Awards” from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at First Citizens Bank Headquarters in Raleigh with a cocktail reception, dinner, awards, and a silent auction. Tickets for the event start at $100 with proceeds going to “The @ Fund,” which provides scholarships for young people to attend Arts Together classes and programs and new equipment and updated educational technology, and creative new classes for pre-school, after-school- and summer programs.
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CAM Raleigh has received six architectural design awards since opening in April 2011. The partnership between the community and North Carolina State University’s College of Design received a 2011 AIA Design Award (Merit), an AIA Tower Award, the 2011 Carraway Honor Award of Merit from Preservation North Carolina, the 2011 Sir Raleigh Walter Award for Community Appearance, a Downtown Raleigh Alliance Imprint Award, and the AIA Architecture Firm Award. Phylicia Rashad, television, movie and Broadway actress, hosted the annual Teddy Bear Ball Dec. 3 to benefit Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center.
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The comedic radio quiz show “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” will debut on BBC America TV network with a year-in-review special Dec. 23. Host Peter Sagal, scorekeeper Carl Kasell and a panel including Paula Poundstone and Alonzo Bodden will discuss 2011's biggest events. Now in its 14th season, the show draws 3.2 million listeners weekly on 595 NPR member public radio stations. The Russian Art Gallery has closed its Cary gallery and relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico at 225 Galisteo Street 87501 where they will continue to display exclusive works from Russia. Go to www.russianartgallery.com.
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Samuel “Sambo” has published Stayin’ Put: Short Stories from Edenton, a collection of vignettes of his life growing up with four generations under one roof. The book is illustrated with photographs from Dixon’s family scrapbooks, as well as reproductions of paintings and photographs contributed by regional historic associations. Go to Amazon.com, select bookstores or to www.stayinputinedenton.com.
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