WHAT IS REMEMBERED, WHAT IS UNSHARED
A Newspaper’s Appreciation
In the week after Logan’s retirement party, the editor of the city’s newspaper called him to congratulate the celebratory ending of an “impactful career.” His buildings were now found in every part of the city, many award-winning and beloved. She then asked if a reporter and photographer could come to his home to do an article for an upcoming Sunday edition. Logan instinctively agreed, still in the habit of seeking any publicity that might draw clients to his firm. He now needed to devote a few hours to tidying his place, but he wasn’t all that busy anymore.
The reporter introduced herself as Aimee, the newspaper’s business reporter. She looked to be in her twenties, maybe just a few years out of journalism school. Logan didn’t catch the photographer’s name. She assured him that this article was to be an appreciation rather than an attempt to reveal deep insights into the practice of architecture, or to pose any question he might find uncomfortable. Predictably, she first asked about Logan’s schooling (Georgetown, then Yale) and his family life (married for 54 years until she suddenly passed, no children). As the photographer continued to click pictures, Logan responded to her that his hobbies were travel and fishing. He was glad she did not press him as he did very little of those, actually. His life was his work, same for his wife. Too bad they did not have the chance to enjoy a retirement together. But that wasn’t the kind of expression of regret Logan knew that the newspaper wanted for this piece.
Aimee’s open-ended question about his career he decided to address in two parts: as an architect and as a firm owner. The first was Logan’s sole concern at the two practices where he worked a total of eight years until he decided to launch his practice. Following those first few years on his own, when it was Logan plus a CAD drafter and a secretary/office manager, he started doing less and less architecture and more firm management. When the firm headcount topped twenty, it seemed to Logan that he spent most all of his time running the firm and marketing their services. He might as have been operating an accounting firm or a travel agency. Sure, he’d be present at design progress reviews for important clients, and occasionally look over the shoulder of one of his architects to pose a question that the architect too often mistook as a directive rather than an observation. Logan did not confess to Aimee that many of the architects that had been in his employment were far more talented than he ever was. Those were usually the ones that left to start their own firms after about six years with him, but he did not share that pattern with Aimee, either.
When she asked him to identify career highlights, Logan readily ticked them off:
First time moving into a building that they had designed for themselves.
Winning the architectural firm of the year award for the state.
His employees preparing a successful application and portfolio to have him honored as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Partnering with a national firm to win the commission for what became an award winning cultural center for the city.
Converting the firm’s design and drafting process to 3D software before most of his competitors transitioned.
He stopped at five, not wanting to mention that the successful sale of his practice to a regional megafirm, assuring him no financial concerns during retirement. This was after a lifetime of drawing a modest salary, far less than Aimee might imagine for the head of a successful architectural firm. Logan never was adept at spending money on himself anyway, something he might credit to his German-Lutheran heritage, also not a belief he wanted to see in the newspaper.
Economic Challenges
Aimee did surprise him when she next inquired about his experience during the economic ups and downs over his career. Working backwards, Logan shared his opinions that the reaction to COVID was overblown once there was a vaccine available. Everyone should have returned to the office right then. That diversion of national opinion caused the sense of national unity – we’re all in this pandemic fight together – to collapse. Logan knew that was also the stance of the paper’s editorial board, so his assertion was not so controversial, although not being controversial was no longer a concern in attracting and retaining clients.
When she asked about the Great Financial Crisis, he first drew a blank, until he remembered that was now the term used for what was then called The Great Recession. Logan almost lost the firm as that was the year he had gone ahead to construct their building at the same time all his banking clientele disappeared. For Aimee’s purposes, he simply admitted that those were “scary times,” and he was grateful that his clients had stuck with him and were patient as he rebuilt his staff after having to layoff so many.
As to September 11, he now looked at it as a nonevent. Everyone was horrified, the country pulled together, but within a year business was back to normal except for air travel. By now Logan was weary from her questions, so he decided to turn the conversation on his inquisitor, a technique he used with over-curious clients. Aimee revealed that she was born nine months after 9-11, so the heightened security was the only world she ever knew. Logan quickly did the math, and guessed correctly that she was one of those whose senior year of high school was remote, with no prom or graduation ceremony, and a subdued college experience due to COVID. These two bookend events had a major impact on her life, but neither ever came to mind when Logan reminisced.
When Aimee moved on to the start of his career during the energy crisis of the 1970’s, Logan noted that he as a novice architect then, he was most thankful to be working, with little understanding of the financial perils of those times. He did not mention that the recession of those years coupled with the glut of young architects in his city had him willing to work for minimum wage, ever grateful when Congress raised that floor.
Her last looking-back question was about Viet Nam. She also calculated correctly that Logan was the right age to have been drafted. So, was he? Maybe he was growing more tired, but he unexpectedly snapped “Hell, no!” Logan then immediately apologized for his outburst, compensating by admitting that his mother arranged for a doctor to certify him to have a minor medical issue that prevented him from serving. That was good enough for the local draft board, all cronies of his late father. He suggested contritely that was probably not an episode to be put in the newspaper. She agreed.
Any Regrets?
Amiee’s final question was whether he had any regrets, anything he wished he’d done differently? This launched him into a new line of thought, and he hesitated a while before answering. Having children early in his career and to have grandchildren now would be a great way to fill his days, but that was not to be, or to be shared. Instead, Logan admitted, “Funny that I more clearly remember the big projects we didn’t book, and what we might have done differently to have maybe won them. I also wish I was able to hold on to some of that talent that came through my practice, but I understand why they all needed to move on. I guess you could write that I wish I found time to be a better mentor.”
The photographer then took a few more posed photos. Logan also supplied a digital copy of his former firm’s brochure from which the newspaper might extract photos of their award-winning buildings. And then the interview was over. Aimee thanked him profusely for his time. She also warned him that a fact checker from the newspaper might be in touch; this was standard procedure. Logan thanked her as well and gave the photographer a nod. He told her that he looked forward to seeing her feature article on him, and could she set aside ten copies for him to pick up once it was published? She happily agreed, although at that moment he could not think to whom he might send them. Later, Logan was grateful that she did not suggest that she could simply email him a link to the article.