{"id":8738,"date":"2015-09-23T03:07:08","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T03:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/?p=8738"},"modified":"2018-03-29T08:23:21","modified_gmt":"2018-03-29T08:23:21","slug":"robert-simon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/robert-simon\/","title":{"rendered":"In Memory of Robert Simon, 1914-2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
Creator of the first modern, post-war planned community in America died this week at 101 years old. He sold Carnegie Hall in 1961 and used that money to found Reston (his initials R.E.S. + the world “town”) on 27 km2 of land in Northern Virginia. He was a real inspiration. For decades he lived in Reston in the same building as my mother, in the heart of the community that he planned half a century ago. A notable piece of American urban planning history and a guy who will not be forgotten.<\/p>\n
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Several years ago a bronze statue was designed and placed on a bench in the Lake Anne plaza to honor him. As of yesterday, it is adorned with flowers placed by friends and neighbors who loved him (pictured above).<\/p>\n
I had the opportunity to meet this man a few times and was stunned by his kindness and humility.<\/p>\n