From Cindy Wagner
Editor, Futurist Update
Managing Editor, The Futurist
7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450
Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
cwagner@wfs.org

www.wfs.org

FUTURIST UPDATE
News & Views from the World Future Society
July 2003
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ONLINE version: http://www.wfs.org/futupjul03.htm
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Man-Machine Merger
* Chaos Theory and Alcoholism
* Beware of Cats
* Click of the Month: Forecasting Dictionary
* Doug Michels

VISIONARY ARCHITECT DOUG MICHELS

"World architect" Doug Michels, a futurist and founding member of the iconoclastic Ant Farm design group, died June 12 in Australia while hiking to a whale observation point at Eden Bay. He was less than three weeks shy of his sixtieth birthday.

Michels and the Ant Farm were best known for the Cadillac Ranch monument in Amarillo, Texas, where in 1974 the group embedded 10 used Cadillacs headfirst into the ground, their tail fins leering at the sky. The Cadillacs have now been painted black in tribute to Michels.

On the day that news of Michels's death spread by e-mail around the world, dozens of friends, colleagues, and admirers shared deeply personal experiences in a "virtual wake." Frequent collaborator Peter Bollinger wrote, "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."

Over the years, FUTURIST readers have been treated to three cover stories of work inspired by Michels. A special "Visions" essay showcasing this work will appear in the September-October issue.

DETAILS: "Cadillacs All Turn to Black in Memory of Artist," AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS,
http://www.amarillonet.com/stories/062303/new_news062303-1.shtml
Obituary, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/features/1955440

THE WORLD FUTURE SOCIETY is a nonprofit, nonpartisan scientific and educational association with some 25,000 members worldwide. Membership in the Society, including a subscription to THE FUTURIST magazine and numerous other benefits, is just $45 per year ($20 for full-time students under age 25). For more information on the Society and all its programs, publications, and services, contact Membership Director Susan Echard, mailto:sechard@wfs.org, or visit http://www.wfs.org.