Reflections by Colleagues

Karl's career-long dedication to his ideals of shared environment building, namely building community through environment, and his demonstration of their practical application in his own work has been a source of strength to others. He has given enormously of himself -- his time, his energy, his emotional support and his ideas -- and has asked little in return in the way of conventional professional rewards of institutional status or salary. His primary gratifications have come, I think, in the ways that he has been able to help others develop their own insights and abilities, and to express these through the shared construction of institutions and places. Karl has overcome the "normal" designer's fixation on monument building, if he ever had it. His great contribution has been as a catalyst to environmental awareness and constructive action..
--Stephen Carr, Architect, Carr & Lynch Associates, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1974


I have known and worked with Karl for approximately fifteen years and he continues to amaze me with his creativity and enthusiasm, which he uses so effectively to motivate people. Karl and I met in 1962 in a program called "Neighborhood Commons." I was a young architect who experienced what I choose to call total-motivation. But, I was only one of many who was infected with this wonderful, deliberate process of urban revitalization. It worked for the professionals, the community, the city officials and everyone it touched. Karl is a leader and a doer. I know of no one who can instill the quality of making someone want to do his best, like Karl can.
--Robert J. Nash, President National Organization of Minority Architects, Washington, D.C., 1974

Karl and I first worked together in Chicago, [in 1964], on a Neighborhood Commons community project. That cooperation made me aware of his genius with respect to relating the physical landscape and environment of community to human aspiration and political organization. Among those of us involved in new forms of neighborhood government and citizen participation, Karl Linn holds a unique position relating to these environmental goals and these political goals.
--Milton Kotler, Founder and Executive Director, National Association of Neighborhoods, Washington, DC, 1974

I am convinced that a vast new upsurge in our county is underway, focused on the betterment of our environment through active participation and involvement of citizens whose lives are vitally affected -- in ghetto areas, city cores, and areas ripe for renewal. We have the opportunity to catalyze and lead these citizen groups through actions of the kind which Karl Linn advocates.
--Lawrence Halprin, Landscape Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1969


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