Greg Burns and I had been living in NYC in the early 90’s and after 2+ exciting years there it was time to move on. A few months before departing, I called Lars (who was in Fayetteville AR with Lisa) and let him know my plan was to head their way and asked him to keep an eye out for a cheap car and I’d pay him back if he found me one. He said his grandmother had just given him an old Plymouth and it was mine if I fixed up houses with him for 2 weeks. I ended up driving to St. Louis with friend Kate Dunn and from there, shipped most of my stuff ahead and rode my bike the rest of the way to Fayetteville. When I arrived, Lars gave me a big hug and handed me the keys and said, “The Golden Chariot is all yours”.

After loving working on houses with him and his derelict (and awesome crew) for a couple weeks, I drove all over the mid and southwest for the rest of the summer visiting family and friends eventually making it to Lars & Lisa’s wedding in Greeley CO. After all my visits, I ended up heading back to fix up houses with Lars and the gang for another year. It was there that I started thinking about architecture school and the direction of my life slowly began taking shape.

I will miss him dearly and hope wherever he is he’s driving around, giving rides in a golden chariot and then passing the keys along.

Note: Today Piper got her 2nd Pfizer shot, arm feels sore but all’s good otherwise.

Taken around 1996 from the garage of the Larimer Place (3358 Larimer).