From Peter Bollinger

All:

How to articulate my thoughts at the moment on a man who affected my life so greatly? Inadequately no doubt.. but: It's been some days now and the shock is gone, replaced with the reality. The reality is that I'll no longer be in receipt of the wonderfully insightful emails, the colored-pencil butter-paper sketches, The missives arriving in slogan-stamped envelopes with the postage stamps iconoclastically applied, or my own personal favorite; Doug's critiques of some aspect of contemporary Architecture, Design or Culture which more often than not took the form of newspaper or magazine pages with circles, arrows and expletives scrawled across them in red magic marker.

I first 'met' Doug transglobally in I think '84 where we worked together briefly on BLUESTAR. and then went our separate ways again. Many years later after we moved to the US I placed a call to Doug as he was the only American I knew. At that minute he had picked up the phone to Australia trying to track me down. We figured synchronicity like that was not to be ignored, and we've been working together in some form ever since.

I believe Doug regarded death the same way that birds regard ornithology, so by that I am not troubled, but it is tragic to think of the fact that his spirit and creativity embodied in initiatives like BLUESTAR, Oceania, The Hyperion Project, Discovery, Power Pod, H2F, Heaven, Aquarius, White House II, and Worlds Tallest Woman as well as the scores of projects I didn't work with him on, are not to pass our way again.

Doug was Friend, Partner, Creative whirlwind, Inspiration, Hard-ass, Total space-cadet, Genius, Hilarious, True Artist and a man of singular and devoted passion. I loved all of this about him. I loved the fact he threw out all his small change. I loved the fact that if you burned him badly, he'd never again speak your name. I loved the fact that his living room in DC used to consist of floor, walls, a painting, 2 butterfly chairs and a small glass coffee table.. (and how he vacillated about actually putting a tiny vase with a single flower on it "for that homey touch"). I loved the fact that despite the fact that for a lot of his life he operated "outside of the traditional rewards structure" (as we'd become fond of quoting), his legacy and impact will be felt by so many and be so enduring. I loved the fact that he could think up tag lines that stuck. I loved the fact that I could tell people I knew someone who kidnapped Buckminster Fuller. I loved the fact that he was the quintessential communicator, managing to stay in touch with, it appears, half the planet- (like many of you we've in fact received postcards post mortem).. I loved the fact that he could make me cry with laughter. Mostly I think I loved the way his brain worked- always thinking about something -everything- in a creative or novel way. It was truly a joy to be part of his world.

I am aquainted with both the place and manner of his passing, and those that saw him last report that he was very happy and in wonderful spirits. I like to think of him standing at the water on a perfect Eden day, Old growth forest at his back, pristine Big Blue in front, perhaps with a pod of his beloved cetaceans nearby: A singular, pristine moment of sublime peace and joy, then a swift slip, and a life coming to a finale at an instant of perfect harmony and happiness. Then, as in life, Alone but never Lonely. I think Doug would have been struck but unsurprised by the strange 'appropiateness' of it.

Doug my friend, I will so greatly miss communicating with you in person, but you will continue to be a part of my life till the end of my time here. So long Pardner. I will see you i n t h e f u t u r e.

Peter Bollinger
Michels Bollinger Inc.