in the news

In the News

Frequently I work with architects and designers who take on the role of middle-man for their clients, and I never meet the client. Back in the mid-eighties I was referred to an architect in North Carolina for a large project. He was working on the design for a proposed addition to a new theme park in South Carolina. I was excited about the job because I was given liberty to add some design input.

The concept was for three shopping villages: fishing village, old Victorian San Francisco, and European village. The illustrations were intended to be used to draw investors and were just loose concepts. I worked back and forth with the architect thru the phone and mail.

This was a while back, so I don't recall all the details but sometime later, after the job was completed, I was watching the evening news and the name of the theme park came up in a scandal story involving a well known religious personality. My jaw dropped. I won't mention his name but I will give you a hint. He was married to a woman who always went overboard in the make-up department and he was accused of having an affair with his secretary. This guy was indicted on multiple counts of mail fraud and other charges, many involved with this theme park.

Man, I am sure glad I got paid up front!

A few years later I worked with a Florida developer who ended up on the FBI's most wanted list for several counts of embezzlement and fraud. I read about him in Newsweek magazine while waiting in the dentists' office.

This illustration depicts the old European village theme

This fishing village scheme was based on a combination of Cannery Row in San Francisco and Gloucester, Mass.

These next two schemes had a Victorian theme

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