Allan Talbot
This is a photo of Peter taken about five years ago during a weekend visit to our house in Kent, Connecticut. This particular weekend, as with all our times together, was filled with sharing personal news, laughing a lot, political talk, and simply enjoying each other's company. At the time he was particularly enthusiastic about a geography course he was taking at Portland State which allowed him to further develop his interest in how cities incorporate and shape their natural settings. He is the only person I know who actually loves contour maps. While others watch television, Peter spends hours sketching landscapes and buildings. His shirt and jacket pockets are always stuffed with pencils
and small sketch pads.
We first met in 1966 while working on a US Department of Education project to see how education parks (campuses incorporating individual k-12 schools) might benefit from shared facilities, i.e. libraries, cafeterias, auditoriums etc., while also promoting economic and racial integration by drawing students from different city neighborhoods. We also worked together in Washington for an organization called Urban America which pressured the Johnson Administration to spend more money in cities and for the development of new towns to control urban sprawl.
Our working relationships blossomed into a friendship. Over the years we have helped each other in many ways. Peter once allowed me to share his apartment on 11th Street for three months. He also designed renovations for my country house in upstate New York and a town house in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Most of us are lucky if we develop four or five close friendships in life. Peter is definitely in my quota, and I am fortunate for that.
From Allan Talbott
