Paul Croteau, age 13, of Spokane, Washington, for his question:
Who is Frank Lloyd Wright?
As a rule, we expect the engraved portrait on a postage stamp to represent some famous person of American history. But once in a while we break the rule to honor a modern American. No American is more modern than Frank Lloyd right and for him we broke the rules.
That dignified, white haired gentleman on our up date two cent stamps is Frank Lloyd Wright. The delicate lines of the expert engraving show the eyes of a wide awake dreamer fixed high on some vision of the future. Behind his head is the graceful curve of a solid, existing building. From this excellent picture we might guess that the fame of Frank Lloyd Wright lies in the field of architecture. We would be correct. Some people may claim that one picture is worth a thousand words, but people who read know better. This stamp picture is excellent, but as usual, the picture needs a whole lot of words to bring it to life.
Frank Lloyd Wright was born June 8, 1869, in Richland Center, Wisconsin. His father was a preacher and taught music. His mother's name was Anna Lloyd Jones, and her family came from Wales. It was Anna who encouraged her young son to follow his dream to become an architect. At 15 he went to Wisconsin University, but no course in architecture was then available. After studying civil engineering, he became a college dropout and bravely set forth to make his way in the world. He worked as a draftsman and designer in the Chicago office of Louis Sullivan, the most modern architect of the day, and for the next six years he educated himself by experience.
At 24, young Frank felt ready. He left Sullivan, whom he called his Dear Master, to look for building commissions of his own. He devoted the rest of his life to a quest for his dream of the future and some 600 solid buildings prove that he reached and surpassed it many times. Their practical beauty reveals an original genius far ahead of his time. Every detail demonstrates that Wright never compromised his talent or settled for less than what he knew to be the very best.
Each of Wright's buildings expresses his philosophy that a building must serve its purpose simply and not quarrel with its surroundings. His prairie style homes have large windows facing the best views and placed under deep eaves to get the best sunlight. Their connecting rooms may be partitioned for living convenience, and their natural toned bricks, stones, and woods blend in friendship with the scenery. His commercial buildings are simple modern designs, which embody his original structural ideas, his new uses of concrete and other materials. A skyscraper, he said, is too polite to enjoy being placed where its shadow must fall on smaller buildings.
Wright used the Welsh name Taliesin, the Shining Brow, to name his own two homes. He named the school he started for bright eyed young architects the Taliesin Fellowship. In 1959 he died but not before many builders were using versions of his original ideas. Now America has honored this true Master Builder of modern times with his engraved portrait on a postage stamp.