Just watched a PBS show on Fredrick Law Olmsted. I knew about him, but didn’t realize that he was a genuine genius.
Olmsted was to the urban landscape as Tesla was to electricity. I spent many hours with my grandmother as a young child in Central Park. She lived only a block away on 75th Street. As a young teacher, I taught a few blocks from Central Park and regularly brought my classes to the open fields for sports and games. I spent many hours running its famous roads as a member of the NY Roadrunners and every once in while, when the snow came down hard, I would cross-country ski on those same roads. I spent many hours playing on one of the 26 tennis courts north of 96th St. I don’t get back to the park as often as I would like, but it is certainly, in the least, a unique and calming place. I recommend watching this documentary.

You can watch the entire program at the site below. Just click on the link “Watch the full program”:

http://www.thirteen.org/olmsted/

Other Olmsted sites:

http://www.pbs.org/thinktank/transcript803.html

http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/

http://tv.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/arts/television/the-olmsted-legacy-on-pbs-review.html

http://www.theolmstedlegacy.com/

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