26th July 2025
Sometimes there is an event that is unique, and special, and becomes a significant milestone in my life. Today I had my meeting with Henry, a professor at Michigan State University who taught graphic design.
Our first encounter was when we collected a very large piece of furniture from his home on the banks of Lake Michigan. I knew then he was an interesting person. The sculptures in ceramics that he formed were wild, but graceful.
I was excited that we finally were able to sit across a table and learn about each other.
The venue was a coffee shop in Grand Haven, for me it was a journey of forty minutes, and it just so happened to be the Lifeguard festival, so the place was buzzing.
Henry was fifteen minutes late, I had drunk much of my coffee by the time he arrived.
I was worried that I wouldn’t recognise him, so I sat close to the door, observing everyone that entered the place.
I did recognise him, he stood just inside the door looking round, maybe he had forgotten what I looked like. I stood up and waited for his gaze to reach me, there was the knowing smile.
He insisted on buying his own coffee, then we sat down to talk.
Where does one start? He had just gone through a move from East Lansing, so that seemed a good place to start. We talked a while about all the crap he is now surrounded with, and how he was at odds with his wife over what to do with it all. I knew from our first encounter that he was a rebel, and that came out often in our conversations. We talked about health, he is much older, and had his fair share of health problems, he to is sceptical about doctors and the drugs they prescribe, but then we moved on to his teaching career. He deplored the system, he hated following a structured format, he wanted to learn as much from his students as they did from him. As he was talking, he would lean forward, as if whispering, make his point, and smile, then pull back.
We must have talked for a couple of hours, my coffee dregs had dried to the sides of the cup.
We concluded with open invitations to meet again, maybe at his home, he didn’t like setting an agenda, he wanted to let it be more organic.
As I was leaving, he rushed back to me thrusting his business card into my hand, it read,
Henry Brimmer, Professor of Non-Linear Thinking Strategies, a little more general than Professor of Graphic Art, don’t you think?
Another Lifetime to go 