On Sunday 13th October, we will remember the life and passion of the indefatigable and incandescent Mandy Press. Mandy died in her sleep on 1 October 2013 at home at Yarambat, Victoria. Mandy’s husband, Gerry Morris, provided this obituary. Mandy was born in on 7 December 1947 in Brighton,… Continue reading Honouring the legacy of Mandy Press
Category: Personal posts
Personal posts by Wendy Sarkissian
Flight Poem
On 25 May 2013, I flew to Adelaide from the Gold Coast. I associate Adelaide with hopefulness and opportunity. I was looking forward to basking in the pleasures of old friendships once again. Twin griefs had distracted me for several months: the death of a dear friend and the loss of a longstanding friendship.… Continue reading Flight Poem
Two Trees I Loved: An Anthem
At the EcoEnco retreat in Western Australia in July, I participated in a songwriting workshop. What a treat! Joseph Pul© (https://soundcloud.com/joepule) and Steve Andrews (https://steveandrews.bandcamp.com/ and https://earthoceanphoto.com), both talented musicians, songwriters and guitarists, led us into the Karri forest. They helped us write our songs and set them to music. I’m waiting for… Continue reading Two Trees I Loved: An Anthem
A most hopeful light
Nimbin light We designed our bedroom to handle the light of the Australian sub-tropics. We used hundreds of CAD shade diagrams and tried to honour some basic feng shui principles. So a narrow window admits morning sun along the eastern wall. Just a glimpse, a shard of light. But in the winter (almost intentionally) the… Continue reading A most hopeful light
“Yale Wife” No More
In February of this year, I flew to Boston to teach for a month, mainly in the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). Teaching in the GSD was a lot more intensive than Australian postgraduate planning education; the students were also an international and multicultural bunch. The privileged Harvard student body I had witnessed in… Continue reading “Yale Wife” No More
Shame on Me: Sixto Rodriguez in Brisbane 31 March 2013
Sixto Rodriguez The whole world is enchanted by the Sixto Rodriguez story. And no wonder. It has such heart-warming and redemptive qualities. Rodriguez — and his story — touch our hearts. Last night I attended his concert in Brisbane in a relatively small theatre, The Tivoli, which stands 500.… Continue reading Shame on Me: Sixto Rodriguez in Brisbane 31 March 2013
Officeworks and Reflex Paper: “I have to pay my mortgage and feed my dogs”
September 12, 2011 – 5:34 pm Officeworks Lismore: a Bulletin On Saturday I drove 72 kms. round-trip to my local Officeworks store in Lismore, NSW in the vain hope that they might have stopped stocking Reflex paper. I signed the pledge and the petition (with 11,000 others!) months ago and so far… Continue reading Officeworks and Reflex Paper: “I have to pay my mortgage and feed my dogs”
Funeral for Ross Kevin Taylor
It was standing room only in Adelaide Town Hall on Thursday morning August 18th when over 1100 people packed the historic concert hall to pay tribute to beloved landscape architect, Kevin Ross Taylor. The grand Victorian architecture and soaring ceilings of the most… Continue reading Funeral for Ross Kevin Taylor
Tribute to Kevin Taylor from David Yencken
Kevin Taylor Kevin Taylor came to work for Merchant Builders (a housing company that Johnny Ridge and I had started) when he was a young man. It was his first job. He came with a strong personal recommendation from Wendy Sarkissian (then lecturing in Adelaide) who had taught him. She… Continue reading Tribute to Kevin Taylor from David Yencken
Kevin Taylor: Tributes and Funeral
A great, humble and exceptionally beautiful man has died. On Sunday morning, 7th August, Kevin Taylor, Principal of Taylor Cullity Lethlean, Landscape Architects, Designers and community consultation specialists, Adelaide and Melbourne, was killed instantly in a vehicle crash in Darwin. He was 57. His passing is mourned by many, many friends all… Continue reading Kevin Taylor: Tributes and Funeral