July 6, 2016

Once Kean University’s School of Public Architecture settles into the former residence and studio of the late architect Michael Graves, plans are for the intimate salons Mr. Graves often held inside the iconic building known as The Warehouse to be revived. And these programs, with key leaders of the architectural profession, won’t be limited to Kean students.

“Some of these will be by invitation, some by request,” said David Mohney, the Dean of the University’s Michael Graves College. “We have to develop a full program and gauge interest. Some will be geared toward neighbors and residents of Princeton. The important thing is that our board was strongly supportive of reaching out to the Princeton community.”
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June 29, 2016

In his will, architect Michael Graves left three of his Princeton properties, including his Patton Avenue residence and studio, to Princeton University. But the University, where Mr. Graves taught for 39 years and was the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture, has rejected the gift due to the expenses involved in its preservation and maintenance.
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March 18, 2015

Obit Graves 3-18-15Michael Graves

Long-time Princeton resident Michael Graves passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, March 12, 2015. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1934, Graves came to Princeton University to teach in 1962 and opened his architectural firm two years later. 2014 marked the 50th Anniversary of his practice (through April 5, Grounds For Sculpture is exhibiting “Michael Graves: Past as Prologue” in their Museum and Domestic Arts Building). He remained on the faculty at Princeton University until his retirement in 2001 and retained the title of the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture, Emeritus following his retirement.

Michael Graves was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, (FAIA), and is credited with broadening the role of the architect in society and raising public interest in good design as essential to the quality of everyday life. Graves is the president and founding principal of Michael Graves Architecture & Design (MGA&D), which provides architecture, interior design, and master planning services, as well as product design, graphic design, and branding services. MGA&D’s offices are located in Princeton and New York City.

Graves has directly influenced the transformation of urban architecture from abstract modernism toward more contextual responses. Critic Paul Goldberger, writing in The New York Times, called Graves, “truly the most original voice in American architecture.” Graves’s architectural practice has designed over 350 buildings worldwide encompassing most building types.

The product design practice has designed and brought to market over 2,000
products with Target Stores and JCPenney, and manufacturers such as Alessi, Stryker, Kimberly-Clark, Steuben, and Disney.

Graves has received prestigious awards including the AIA Gold Medal, the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton, and the Topaz Medallion from the AIA/ACSA. Graves is the 2012 Richard H. Driehaus Prize Laureate. Graves has become internationally recognized as a healthcare design advocate, with the Center for Health Design naming him one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Healthcare Design. In 2013, President Obama appointed Graves to the United States Access Board.

Graves received his architectural training at the University of Cincinnati and Harvard University. In 1960, he won the Rome Prize and studied for two years at the American Academy in Rome, of which he is now a Trustee. Graves has received 14 honorary doctorates and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Graves is survived by his daughter, Sarah Graves Stelfox, her husband Brad Stelfox; three grandchildren: William, Katherine, and Nathaniel Stelfox; two sons, Adam Graves, and Michael Sebastian Min Graves, and his companion, Minxia Lin.

A memorial service is being planned at Princeton University on Sunday, April 12, 2015. Please check the firm’s website at www.mi
chaelgraves.com for details as they develop.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. One of the projects that Michael was most passionate about, he believed in Madonna’s mission and vision to rebuild lives using world-class technology, translational research, and family-like culture. The memorials for Michael Graves will all be used to help build the rehabilitation hospital that he designed and to honor him with a permanent naming opportunity. Checks can be made out to Madonna Foundation-Omaha Campus and sent to: Madonna Foundation, 5401 South Street, Lincoln, NE 68506.

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Merna Goldberg

Merna (Bunny) Goldberg passed peacefully on March 10, 2015 at her home in Princeton surrounded by her family. She was born in Newark, New Jersey on August 8, 1936, daughter of Herman and Bobbi Davis. She leaves behind her devoted husband of 57 years, Marvin Goldberg. She was predeceased by her son, David Goldberg. She is survived by her son Robert Goldberg and wife Sara; her daughter Amy Benjamin, and husband, Alan; and daughter in law, Betina Goldberg Rappoport. She leaves behind seven loving grandchildren: Margaret, Jacob, Emanuel, Daniel, Hannah and Lili Goldberg, and Jesse Benjamin.

Bunny attended Mount Sinai School of Nursing in New York City where she was the recipient of the Guggenheim Award for Nursing. Bunny was a founder and co-director of Hi Hills Day Camp in Somerset County for 36 years. She was a volunteer at the University Medical Center at Princeton and at McCarter Theater, where she was also a member of the Associate Board. She established the annual David Goldberg Lecture in Architecture in conjunction with the Arts Council of Princeton. She also served as a Community Fellow at Princeton University.

Bunny loved nature and enjoyed being by the ocean and in the woods. She loved farms and animals and once worked as a guide at Terhune Orchards in Princeton. She especially valued time spent with her devoted family and her wonderful friends.

Funeral services were held at the Star of David Memorial Chapel, 40 Vandeventer Avenue in Princeton on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 10 a.m. Shiva was observed at their home on 8 Greenholm Street on Saturday, March 14, 2015.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.

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Obit Merrill 3-18-15Margaret Merrill

Margaret Kirkwood Menzies Merrill died early on March 9, 2015 at her home in Skillman, New Jersey, where she had lived for four years. She had previously resided in Princeton Junction from 1965 to 2010. Margaret was born in Richmond, Virginia and lived in that area throughout her childhood with the exception of a year in Scotland with her parents’ families during the Depression.

She attended Mary Washington College, graduating in 1951 with a degree in Spanish. The Alumnae Placement office encouraged her to accept a primary school teaching job, starting a career that spanned over 40 years, taking off only a few years to start a family before being lured back to the profession that was her calling. While teaching in Martinsville, Virginia, she met her future husband, David Dayton Merrill, a DuPont employee. They married in 1955 and moved to Wilmington, Delaware, and then Charlotte, North Carolina, before finally settling permanently in Princeton Junction.

She was best known for her gifted teaching, and she wove her love of art, music, literature, science, and the humanities into the classroom where many hundreds of children were infected with the joy of learning.

Her husband died in 1985, and she continued teaching until her retirement in 1995. She then filled her days with church activities, grandchildren, and a determination to gather all the good books she came across and give them a home.

She is survived by her sister, Jean Menzies Pleasants of Ashland, Virginia and her husband Joseph; her younger brother John Menzies and his wife Shirley of Mechanicsville, Virginia; and her sister-in-law, Janet Menzies, the widow of Margaret’s youngest brother, Walter Menzies, Jr., of Mechanicsville, Virginia. Also surviving are two daughters: Margaret Elisabeth Walls and her husband John, of Salisbury, North Carolina; and Lynn Ann Cornell and her husband David, of Princeton, and their two children, Marjorie Kirkwood Cornell of North Brunswick, New Jersey and James Ellerson Cornell of Atlanta, Georgia; and a rich circle of extended family and friends.

A memorial service in celebration of her life and in witness to the resurrection will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, 2015 at her church home, Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street in Princeton. Contributions may be made to Nassau Presbyterian Church, the Trenton Children’s Chorus, Crisis Ministries of Princeton and Trenton, or Centurion Ministries.

Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

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February 6, 2013

MGravesPrinceton architect Michael Graves is among five people who will be appointed to posts in the Obama administration, it was announced by the White House this week. Mr. Graves, whose office is on Nassau Street, will be a member of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.

Mr. Graves has been paralyzed from the waist down since 2003, when he contracted a bacterial infection. “I am honored to have been appointed to the United States Access Board by President Obama,” he said in an email on Tuesday. “When I became paralyzed, I realized that as an architect and designer, and then a patient, I had a unique perspective. As a result, I became passionate about using this perspective to improve healthcare and accessibility through design projects. Now, as a member of the Access Board, I expect to provide national leadership on accessible design, and hope I can contribute on a grand scale. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board in pursuit of this important mission.”

Others selected by President Obama for administration posts are Vinton Cerf, to join the National Science Board and National Science Foundation; Marta Araoz de la Torre, to become a member of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee; Laurie Leshin, to join the Advisory Board of the National Air and Space Museum; and Lynne Sebastian, to become a member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Mr. Graves is the founding partner of Michael Graves & Associates, an architecture and design firm that he founded in 1964. Since then, the practice has evolved into two firms, the Michael Graves Design Group and Michael Graves & Associates. He is also the Robert Schirmer Professor of Architecture, Emeritus at Princeton University, where he taught for nearly four decades. Mr. Graves is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.

“These fine public servants both bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles,” President Obama said in a press release. “Our nation will be well-served by these individuals, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

Mr. Graves is scheduled to speak at Princeton Public Library on February 13 at noon as part of the Spotlight on the Humanities Architecture series

 

February 15, 2012
Christopher Reeve

Princeton Native Christopher Reeve Named to New Jersey Hall of Fame

In the “Class of 2012” of the New Jersey Hall of Fame announced last Friday by Governor Chris Christie, Princeton is represented by author Joyce Carol Oates, who won in the general category, and actor Christopher Reeve, who was selected in the arts and entertainment category. Ms. Oates, a National Book Award winner, teaches in the creative writing program at Princeton University. Mr. Reeve, who grew up in Princeton and graduated from Princeton Day School, died in 2004 at the age of 52.

The star of the Superman films was cited not only for his achievements as an actor, but also for his tireless work as an activist on behalf of people with the kinds of debilitating neck and spinal cord injuries he suffered during a riding accident in 1995. This recognition is fitting, said his mother, Princeton resident Barbara Johnson, since Mr. Reeve’s efforts in service of others were far-reaching and date back to his youth.

“Chris had been an activist earlier in his life. He was a co-founder of The Creative Coalition [with Ron Silver]. He went down to Chile when playwrights were being threatened by the regime, and that was a very scary thing,” she said.

In a letter to Town Topics January 25 after she was informed of her son being named to the Hall of Fame, Mrs. Johnson expressed her gratitude to friends and fellow Princeton residents who voted for him when he was nominated. She also wrote of his early theatrical experiences in Princeton that helped shape his future as an actor. In a telephone interview this week she elaborated a bit.

“I remember particularly Chris’s appearance in the play Witness for the Prosecution at PCD (Princeton Country Day School, predecessor of PDS),” she recalled, with a chuckle. “I think the role was a housemaid, complete with Scottish accent. The play was directed by the late, beloved Herbert McAneny, who told me Chris was always asking for more direction.”

Mr. Reeve knew from the age of 12 that he wanted to be an actor. “Friends would say to me, ‘You don’t want him to go into that, it’s awful.’ But, my response would be, ‘I could no more stop him than I could stop a rainstorm.’ He was determined,” she said.

Though it was the Superman film series that made him a superstar, Mr. Reeve had an impressive career in other films and on stage. He made his Broadway debut opposite Katharine Hepburn in A Matter of Gravity and went on to star in such films as Deathtrap, Somewhere in Time, The Remains of the Day, and The Bostonians. Stage credits include FIfth of July, Summer and Smoke, The Front Page, and Love Letters. He directed television and film productions and wrote the best-selling books Still Me and Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life.

In 1995, Mr. Reeve became the chairman of the board of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, supporting research to develop treatments and a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other central nervous system disorders. His advocacy for that and numerous other causes won him awards and wide recognition, including the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service in Support of Medical Research and the Health Sciences from The Lasker Foundation in 2003.

The New Jersey Hall of Fame’s mission is to encourage children to strive for excellence. In addition to its annual awards designations, the organization holds essay contests for children and is planning a mobile museum, designed by Princeton architect Michael Graves, to further its message.

The “Class of 2012” will be inducted at a ceremony on June 9 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. In addition to Mr. Reeve and Ms. Oates, those named include media tycoon Samuel I. Newhouse, business leader John Dorrance, actor Michael Douglas, jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, basketball coach Bob Hurley, athlete Milt Campbell, Wild West Show star Annie Oakley, and Bruce Springstreen’s E Street Band. The event is open to the public. Visit www.njhalloffame.org for more information.