‘Rosicrucian artist exhibit opens’

    

Tree of Knowledge No. 1 by Hilma af Klint, watercolor, et al. on paper, 1913.

An exhibition of watercolors, painted by a renowned pioneer of Abstract art, opens today in a UES gallery.

Tree of Knowledge features eight paintings by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), the Swedish painter said to be inspired by Rosicrucian and Anthroposophist thought. The works can be seen by the public, by appointment, at David Zwirner 69th Street. Click here for more information and to schedule a visit.

From the publicity:

David Zwirner is pleased to present Tree of Knowledge, an exhibition of a rare set of Hilma af Klint’s groundbreaking 1913-1915 series of works on paper of the same title, on view at the gallery’s 34 East 69th Street location in New York.

This recently discovered group of eight watercolors is among the few works by the artist to exist outside of the holdings of the Hilma af Klint Foundation.

Though little known during her lifetime and for decades after, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint has come to be recognized as one of the most important and inventive artists of the twentieth century. When she began making vibrant, symbolic paintings as early as 1906, her work was radically unlike anything that had come before, and preceded the abstract work of artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich by several years.

In the early 1920s, af Klint gave the set of watercolors as a gift to Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the spiritual and philosophical movement known as Anthroposophy, which influenced her. Around 1927, the works came into the possession of Albert Steffen, who became president of the Anthroposophical Society after Steiner’s death in 1925.

It was not known that af Klint had made two versions of the Tree of Knowledge suite (the other is in the holdings of the af Klint Foundation) until the recent re-discovery of this set in the Albert Steffen Stiftung, Dornach, Switzerland. It is currently owned by a private collector.

On the occasion of the exhibition, David Zwirner Books will publish a fully illustrated catalog around this body of work with a newly commissioned essay by celebrated af Klint scholar Julia Voss, whose comprehensively researched af Klint biography is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press in September 2022.

Accompanying this exhibition, David Zwirner Online will present an Exceptional Works online viewing room exploring the history behind this remarkable set of watercolor works on paper.

I missed the Guggenheim exhibition a few years ago, but I don’t want to miss this. I’m going to alert the Anthroposophical Society too.

     

‘A beacon within the crush and hub of NYC life’

     
The Anthroposophical Society of New York City will resume a full schedule of activities spanning the twelve Holy Nights of Christmas. Unfortunately, there seems to be no information on the individual events, but there will be something to do nightly between Tuesday the 24th and Sunday, January 5. From the publicity:


The twelve Holy Nights of Christmas are symbols for the twelve forces of the soul that live in us. On these darkest nights of the year, we are closest to the Sun’s Spirit. We are invited to contemplate and reflect on the past year, and to envision the coming year.

Anthroposophy NYC adopted Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night over the Rhône (1888) to help communicate its Holy Nights messages. (Not to be confused with his The Starry Night, 1889.)

For the Holy Nights this year, we have selected a series of contemplations inspired by indications given by Rudolf Steiner to Herbert Hahn, who met Steiner in 1919, and became a class teacher at the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart, where Steiner also asked him to give “free religious lessons” to the children.

Each evening, along with our traditional annual Holy Nights activities of candle lighting, tree adorning with roses, and Eurythmy, we will read together each short contemplation for that day and share thoughts about it. Each discussion will be facilitated by a member of Anthroposophy NYC. Our goal is to experience with others in these contemplations the deep spiritual significance of this special time in the year.

As we approach the dark night of winter and the Holy Nights, which celebrate the birth of a new Light into that darkness, we can also bring confidence and hope for a new light that is awakening in the seeming societal darkness of our times. Truly, programs and policies alone will not be the solution, but rather the conscious awakening of the light of truth and a renewed sense of brotherly and sisterly love for all humans. Of all the works offered by Rudolf Steiner, his central call is to our awakening to this spiritual light that has entered the world and to the practice of love for all of creation as we realize our full humanity.

This is the core work of Anthroposophy NYC—to offer tools for this path toward truth and love—through the work of Rudolf Steiner. Our goal is to be a beacon within the crush and hub of New York City life, where humanity expresses its struggles and triumphs most vividly in all its diversity. There are many seekers of spiritual truth in this city. We aim to be a home for their seeking.

May these very potent days of Christmas be full of meaning and inner light for your path.

All are welcome to all gatherings.


Anthroposophy NYC is located at 138 West 15th Street, between Sixth and Seventh. Make sure you visit the bookstore when you visit!
     

‘September at Centerpoint’

     

Resuming its normally busy schedule of all sorts of gatherings and events, the Anthroposophical Society of New York City offers an abundance of attractions for September. The address is 138 West 15th Street in Manhattan. Check out the bookstore too. Here are just a few of the evening offerings, from the publicity:

Wednesday, September 13 at 7 p.m.

David Taulbee Anderson presents “Anthroposophic Psychology”

This series of ten lectures will explore and elaborate on Rudolf Steiner’s lecture series “Anthroposophy, Psychosophy, and Pneumatosophy.”

Anthroposophy deals with the relation of the soul to the body and senses. Psychosophy studies the soul itself, in its own realm. Pneumatosophy is the study of the soul’s relation to the spirit.

The first two lectures will be concerned with Anthroposophy in the special meaning described here. Lectures 3-6 will be concerned with the soul or psyche itself. Lectures 7-10 will be on pneumatosophy.

1. “The Human Being and the Senses.” We will look at differences between anthropology, anthroposophy, and theosophy. At this point in Steiner’s research he enumerated ten senses that he would later expand to twelve. He did not yet include the ego sense and sense of touch, which he spread out and distributed among the senses of smell, taste, sight, and warmth.

2. “Supersensible Processes in the Human Senses.” How Manas, Buddhi, and Atman work into the ego, astral, etheric, and physical bodies. The etheric body’s relation to the inner senses: balance, movement, and life sense. The astral body’s relation to the outer senses: hearing, speech, and concept senses. Between the inner and outer senses lie the touch senses; they are related to the sentient, intellectual, and consciousness souls.

Subsequent lectures to follow monthly.

David Taulbee Anderson has taught drawing and painting around the world. He has an MA in art, and certificates (Waldorf education) from Emerson College and (teaching painting) from the Wagner School at the Goetheanum.

Saturday, September 23 at 7 p.m.

Eugene Schwartz presents

“Joseph Smith and Rudolf Steiner:

Prophecy and Initiation”

Building on his May presentation, Eugene Schwartz will present three further lectures this season on anthroposophy and Mormonism. Although Joseph Smith and Rudolf Steiner lived at opposite ends of the nineteenth century, their lives had some remarkable similarities, as well as glaring contrasts. We will explore the young adulthood of both men and their efforts to share their experiences of soul and spirit with others, at the chronological and geographic contexts in which Smith preached and Steiner lectured, as well as the ridicule, verbal, and even physical attacks that both endured. Most importantly, we will examine the markedly different ways in which Joseph Smith’s “revelations” and Rudolf Steiner’s “research” led them to the world of the spirit.

Future lectures:
April 7, 2018: “Jahwe and Jesus, Gabriel and Michael.”
May 19, 2018: “From the Great Lakes to the Salt Lake.”

Eugene Schwartz taught for many years at Green Meadow Waldorf School and directed the Teacher Training Program at the Sunbridge Institute. He lectures internationally on Anthroposophy and Waldorf education, and has pioneered numerous online presentations, among them the Online Conferences for Waldorf teachers and the Online Rudolf Steiner Course. His hundreds of lectures and articles may be found here.
     

‘Bookstore holiday sale next week’

     

Courtesy Anthroposophy NYC

The Rudolf Steiner Bookstore in New York City will begin its annual book sale next Tuesday, offering 15 percent off everything through January 6, 2017.

That’s 138 West 15th, between Sixth and Seventh, in Manhattan.

The management says the inventory is freshly stocked with new titles from Steiner Books and “all the essential classics,” and I’ll also say there is no need to be an Anthroposophist to shop, and there is more to find on the shelves than Anthroposophical texts. Freemasons, Rosicrucians, and others should check it out. The place has been renovated recently, and is looking sharp.

     

‘Shakespeare at Anthroposophy NYC’

     
When you are active in Freemasonry and/or kindred arts, you appreciate and endeavor to harness the science of language and, with that in mind, I will be at Anthroposophy NYC on the 21st for this lecture and performance. From the publicity:

Shakespeare and the Mystery

of the Human Being

Presented by Michael Burton

Thursday, January 21

7 p.m.

Anthroposophy NYC

138 West 15th Street

New York City

Magpie file photo

This evening revolves around the dilemma spoken aloud by Hamlet when he asks, “To be or not to be?” The question means much more than just, Does one go on living? It asks how a person is going to live: With truth, with authenticity, or in a manner that turns their life into a lie? Through 17 excerpts from Shakespeare plays (with Hamlet the most used), actor Michael Burton unfolds this meditation on what it means to be a human being.

Michael Burton has worked with artistic speech and drama for more than 35 years as a writer, speech performer, actor, speech therapist, and voice teacher. He is the author of In the Light of a Child, which turns Rudolf Steiner’s Soul Calendar into poems for children, and is used by many Steiner/Waldorf teachers and parents. He has written and performed one-man plays about Rembrandt, Beethoven, Dag Hammarskjold and World War II kiwi soldier Jim Henderson.

Burton’s visit is connected with Lemniscate Arts’ project, begun in 2012, to awaken forces of renewal worldwide for the performing arts initiated by Rudolf Steiner. The goal is a globally touring repertory production including symphonic eurythmy (like the New World Symphony Tour of 2004-5), a Shakespeare play using artistic speech and eurythmy, and a new mystery drama written by Michael Burton from an outline of scenes developed by Marke Levene with the characters in Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas.


Click here for more on Hamlet and the power of language.

Burton will perform again, on the following night, at the Waldorf School of Princeton.
     

‘Holy Nights at Anthroposophy NYC’

     
Anthroposophy NYC has released its calendar for its Holy Nights celebrations. The Anthroposophical Society of New York City is located at 138 West 15th Street in Manhattan. From the publicity:

Twelve Holy Nights

The end of December and beginning of January bring an ancient time of the year more recently known as the Twelve Nights of Christmas. Anthroposophists observe them as the Twelve Holy Nights, though with Christmas eve and Epiphany/Three Kings Day (January 6) they occupy fourteen days of the calendar.

Courtesy Anthroposophy NYC

Rudolf Steiner’s research showed this time of year to be a kind of opening in which meditative or contemplative consciousness might experience the year ahead from a higher standpoint. For a quarter century, Anthroposophy NYC has hosted evenings of short programs, singing, refreshments, and community across these Holy Nights. All evenings take place at 7 p.m., except for a Sunday potluck and festival on January 3 at four o’clock. The dates are listed below with the presenter and the topic she or he is working with. Two wonderful evenings are crafts evenings.

All the evenings are free with donations much appreciated, along with seasonal refreshments brought by you (beverages are provided). Every program evening also needs some help, starting at 6 p.m., to open up, tend to the tree and the roses, set up refreshments, greet arrivals, clean up, and close up. Please contact Phoebe Alexander to offer help.

A beautiful new art exhibit, “Color: In and Out of Form,” with works by Sara Parrilli and Laura Summer, is open.

And remember, the Rudolf Steiner Bookstore has its holiday sale (15 percent off) through January 6!

Friday, December 25

Christmas Day

No program, branch closed.

Saturday, December 26 at 7 p.m.

Phoebe Alexander: Catching Light

Beeswax Stained Glass (art/craft)

Sunday, December 27 at 7 p.m.

John Beck: “Caterpillar Soup

and the Miracle of Change”

Monday, December 28 at 7 p.m.

Cliff Venho: “Christian Morgenstern,

That the Earth May Become a Sun”

Tuesday, December 29 at 7 p.m.

Sylvia Mandel, Carlos Cadena,

and Giorgi Khatiashvili:

Healing with Sound and Color.

Wednesday, December 30 at 7 p.m.

Laura Tucker and Vincent Roppolo:

Christmas Poetry Workshop

Thursday, December 31 at 7 p.m.

New Year’s Eve: “What a Year!”

Led by Walter Alexander and John Beck.

Friday, January 1 at 7 p.m.

New Year’s Day

“A Janus Event: Looking Forward and Back”

(art with Joyce Reilly)

Saturday, January 2 at 7 p.m.

“Window Stars for Three Kings”

(paper craft with Kelly Beekman)

Sunday, January 3 at 7 p.m.

Three Kings/Epiphany Festival

and pot-luck

(poets, singers, musicians needed).

Monday, January 4 at 7 p.m.

Tom Roepke:

“Knowing Ourselves, Knowing Each Other”

Tuesday, January 5 at 7 p.m.

Fred Dennehy: “The Inklings”

Wednesday, January 6 at 7 p.m.

Epiphany/Three Kings Day

Walter Alexander: “The Moment of Recognition”

     

‘Summer studies at Anthroposophy NYC’

     
First, you should know the Rudolf Steiner Bookstore will be open seven days a week(!) through July and August. Monday through Thursday, from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to five o’clock.

As always, the Anthroposophical Society of New York City is located at 138 West 15th Street in Manhattan.

While the regular Anthroposophy NYC groups and programs have the summer off, there will be summertime studies on Mondays and Wednesdays beginning next week. From the publicity:


A New Summer Study Group will be happening!

The regular meetings are Mondays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

We will be reading Occult Science as our main text, but first will be reading the fourth chapter, called “The Path to Knowledge,” of the book Theosophy for the June 29 meeting.

Contact is Joshua Kelberman.

All are welcome!
     

‘SteinerBooks Spiritual Research Seminar at NYU’

     
Anthroposophists and enthusiasts of the teachings of Rudolf Steiner will converge on New York University next month to attend the Annual SteinerBooks Spiritual Research Seminar. From the publicity:

Who Was Rudolf Steiner?

His Years of Preparation, 1861-1900

March 20-21

Kimmel Center at NYU

60 Washington Square South

New York, New York

Admission: $75-$175

Rudolf Steiner, 1892

There are no ordinary lives. While each unfolds according to certain universal archetypes, the particulars are always utterly, infinitely, unique. To learn to ‘read’ the life of another, with care and reverence, is to see the movements and marks—the signature—of an eternal spiritual being whose development and aims are both singular and wholly enmeshed in a community of others. There are no ordinary lives; still, the lives of the ‘great ones’ among us can shed a penetrating light on the nature of our time; on the tasks we face; on the living connections between us; on ourselves.

Rudolf Steiner himself insisted on the importance of modern individuals awakening and cultivating a positive (non-judgmental) interest in the other: in the singular journey of development another undertakes. With openness, patience, joy, and childlike awe we may ask of another: Who are you? How did you become this one I see before me?

To ask this of anyone is salutary, for the inquirer and the inquired; to ask it of an initiate is both profound in itself and a preparation for ‘reading’ the life of all others we encounter.

With this in mind, and in celebration of the publication of the first two volumes in English of Peter Selg’s ambitious and insightful biography of Rudolf Steiner, this seminar will focus on Rudolf Steiner’s life and experiences—his path of initiation—as these prepared him to bring Anthroposophy into the world.

Too often Steiner’s life “before Anthroposophy” is taken for granted. We can think we know it, and so remain closed to its depths and mysteries. We can remain asleep to the human meaning of this astonishing life journey that led from the small railroad town of Kraljevec on the borders of Hungary and Croatia, through Vienna and Weimar, to Berlin, so that the birth of Anthroposophy could take place.

• Through what experiences and encounters did his life lead him?
• What prepared him to bring Anthroposophy into the world at the turn of the twentieth century?
• Who was he who was so led?
• What is my own connection to this human (spiritual) being and the path he trod?

To help us answer such questions, Peter Selg, Director of the Ita Wegman Institute in Arlesheim, Switzerland, a psy- chiatrist by training, and the author of many books on Rudolf Steiner’s life and teaching will give three lectures on outer and inner aspects of Rudolf Steiner’s life and circumstances up to his fortieth year. As a practiced biographer with a profound, esoteric understanding of history, Peter is well-qualified for the task of bringing to life a ‘positive natural history’ of this individual’s development. More than just a writer and esoteric scholar, Peter is also a much-loved speaker, well-known for his empathic, heart-centered approach to esoteric topics. We can have no better guide.

To complement his presentations, Rahel Kern, author of a recent biography of Marie Steiner, will speak on Marie Steiner; and Christopher Bamford will speak of significant moments in Rudolf Steiner’s early life, which, in retrospect, enable us to see Anthroposophy in a new light.

Friday, March 20

6:00 Registration
7:00 Welcome—Gene Gollogly
7:15 Peter Selg—“I pursue a quite specific goal: Childhood, Youth, and Student Years in Vienna”
8:30 Reception

Saturday, March 21

8:00 Refreshments
8:30 Eurythmy : Sea-Anna Vasilas
9:00 Peter Selg: “A profound transformation: The Weimar Years
10:30 Break
11:00 Christopher Bamford: “An Open Secret: Rudolf Steiner’s Life as a Path to Understanding Anthroposophy”
12:00 Lunch
1:30 Rahel Kern: “Marie Steiner-von Sivers’ Karmic Path”
2:30 Sea-Anna Vasilas: “Eurythmy”
2:50 Break
3:00 Peter Selg: “Must I Remain Unable to Speak? Berlin in the 1890s”
4:30 Closing panel

Peter Selg studied medicine in Witten-Herdecke, Zurich, and Berlin. Until 2000, he worked as the head physician of the juvenile psychiatry department of Herdecke hospital in Germany. Dr. Selg is now director of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Research into Anthroposophy in Arlesheim, Switzerland; and professor of medicine at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Germany.

Rahel Kern has been an avid student of Anthroposophy since her teens, with a particular interest in Steiner’s contributions to philosophy and the evolution of consciousness as reflected in the development of thought through the centuries. She currently lives in London and works in international marketing. Her work takes her on frequent travels around the globe.

Christopher Bamford is editor in chief of Steiner-Books and Lindisfarne Books and a writer, scholar, and spiritual researcher in the fields of Anthroposophy, Western esotericism and spirituality, esoteric Christianity, literature, and contemporary philosophy. A Fellow of the Lindisfarne Association, he has lectured, taught, and written widely on Western spiritual and esoteric traditions.

Sea-Anna Vasilas is a member of the Eurythmy Spring Valley Performing Ensemble where she also serves on the faculty of the School of Eurythmy and carries the responsibility of Tour Coordinator for the Ensemble. Through her experiences with myriad movement art forms, meditative paths, education, and farming, Sea-Anna found her way to eurythmy and has made it her life’s passion and work.

In order for us to both cover our costs (speaker’s fees, use of space, etc.) and make this event as accessible as possible, we are offering a sliding scale attendance fee with confidence that those who are in a position to give more will do so. The price is a sliding scale fee from $175 to $75.

For information and to register, write to:
seminar(at)steinerbooks.org
     

‘A Psychology of Freedom’

     
Yehuda K. Tagar, director of the Psychophonetics Institute International in Slovakia, is undertaking a speaking tour of Anthroposophical Society locations in the United States, including Anthroposophy NYC next Tuesday. From the publicity:

Psychosophy: A Psychology of Freedom

Tuesday, February 24 at 7 p.m.

Anthroposophical Society of New York City

138 West 15th Street, Manhattan

Admission: $20 per person

This evening’s talk introduces “psychosophy,” the foundation of anthroposophic psychology and psychotherapy. In November 1910 in Berlin, Rudolf Steiner introduced his only dedicated psychology course. Modern psychology was still in its infancy, and he believed that psychosophy could play a major role in its development. He never gave a follow up psychosophy course as it was never requested, but he predicted that this would take place in the future. Psychosophy was asleep for most of the 20th century, making no contribution to modern psychology. But from the late ’80s, a group of creative researchers inspired by late 20th century humanistic, existential and transpersonal psychology, experimental Initiatory Theatre, and Steiner’s Linguistics—made a breakthrough in the practical application of psychosophy. Seen in this light, Applied Psychosophy is “a psychology of Freedom.”

Yehuda K. Tagar

Yehuda Tagar also is an Anthroposophical Psychotherapist, Psychosophist, and Psychophonetics Practitioner; Director, of the British College of Methodical Empathy; President of Psychosophy Academy of Central Europe (Budapest, Prague, Bratislava); and Course Director of the Association for the Promotion of Artistic Therapy in the United Kingdom.
     

‘The Holy Nights at Anthroposophy NYC’

     
Another terrific line-up of events planned for the coming weeks at the Anthroposophical Society of New York City. Every evening will begin at seven o’clock, except where noted. Admission to each is free, but donations are welcome. The Anthroposophical Society of New York City is located at 138 West 15th Street in Manhattan.

Celebrating the Holy Nights

at Anthroposophy NYC

Friday, December 26 – Joyce Reilly on “The Christmas Truce of 1914.”

Saturday, December 27 – Jesús Amadeo on “Compassion.”

Sunday, December 28 – Fred Dennehy on “The Esoteric Dimensions of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.”

Courtesy New York Times

Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival's cast of The Tempest, 2009.

Monday, December 29 – Cliff Venho on “Exploring Artistic Depictions of the Threefold Human Being.”

Tuesday, December 30 – Gisela Wielki on “The Call of Time.”

Wednesday, December 31 – Kevin Dann on “The Fourth Sacrifice of Christ and the Three Preparers of the Path to Golgotha.”

Courtesy HW Sands

New Year’s Day – Joyce Reilly on “A ‘Janus’ Evening.”

Friday, January 2 – Albert Spekman on “Rhythms of Time.”

Saturday, January 3 – Rita Costanzi, harpist, presenting “The Christ Child’s Lullaby” and more.

Sunday, January 4 – Festival and Pot Luck (4 to 7 p.m.). Opening talk by Walter Alexander. Artistic Program: “In a Midwinter Mood.”

Monday, January 5 – Brigida Baldszun on “Eurythmy: Behold That Star.”

Tuesday, January 6 – Epiphany/Three Kings, and “The Dream Song of Olaf Åsteson.”


Also from the publicity:

“That which we believe to be born anew symbolically every Christmas Night is the human soul in its original nature, the childhood-spirit of man as it was at the beginning of earth-evolution, [before] it descended as a revelation from the heavenly heights. And when the human heart can become conscious of this reality, the soul is filled with the unshakable peace that can bear us to our lofty goals, if we are of goodwill. Mighty indeed is the word that can resound to us on Christmas Night, do we but understand its import.”

Rudolf Steiner
December 26, 1911
     

‘The Anthroposophist Alka-Seltzer ad man’

     

Courtesy Adweek

One finds the strangest facts in the oddest places. It is unsurprising that Adweek would publish actress Julianna Margulies’ obituary of her father, advertising legend Paul Margulies, but she explains how Anthroposophy was central to his life.

The following is copyrighted ©Adweek magazine.

My father always thought it was ironic that people swooned when they found out that he was the genius behind the famous ad campaign for Alka-Seltzer.

I grew up not really understanding his fame in the advertising world because he never allowed us to watch television. I knew he had a big job, a job that took us to different countries. Ad agencies hired him as their creative director and boasted to have him as their leader. He was the man, after all, who had come up with “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!”

I remember on a happy occasion one summer, my father taking my two older sisters and me to Beverly Hills, California. We stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel! It was so exciting. He had to shoot the commercial in California, and we got to watch them film it. I must have been about seven years old. I remember thinking he was so cool, in his fedora straw hat, his silk cravat, denim shirt and khaki safari jacket.

He was, tall, dark and handsome, and women were constantly blushing around him. I understood how dashing he was at a very young age. We were living in Paris, I was three years old, and we walked into a shop, and I thought the shop lady was pretty. Worried about his well-being, not having a wife, I said, “Mon papa est tres jolie, n’est-ce pas?”

My father always regaled that story, with his sweet chuckle, to anyone who would listen. And everyone always seemed to listen to my father. He was unique to this world, not because of his success in advertising, although some may argue that, but because he was a gentle soul who found himself, at a very young age, searching for the meaning of man.

He had been a philosophy major at Dartmouth College, and then, feeling the pressure from his parents (his mother was one of the first women lawyers to practice in New York state), he found himself at Columbia Law. He told me he dropped out after one year because he always found his way to the philosophy library. Law studies just didn't hold his interest.

What did hold his interest was the question of Being, Self, Soul. Why are we here? What is our journey? How can we make this world better? How can we advance ourselves to a life of truth and goodness and love? It was deep stuff.

In his quest, he went to a farm in Pennsylvania and studied biodynamic farming. It was there that he decided to stop eating meat. It was 1959 and still a time when people thought if you didn’t eat meat, you would get sick and eventually die. My poor grandmother would send him steaks and leave them at his door on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village, begging him to stop the nonsense. But he never did. He always understood other people’s concerns, never pushed vegetarianism on anyone, but kept quietly to his regimen.

My father was drawn to a philosophy called Anthroposophy, founded by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher. He began to read Steiner’s books and study his lectures. It was in Anthroposophy that my father found his calling.

He bumped into advertising at around the same time, and having three little girls and two ex-wives, he saw a way to make a living. But he had tremendous conflicts with the demands of the advertising industry. He was worried that his love for Anthroposophy, the way in which he was choosing to lead his inner life, would contradict his work life. He sought out Dr. Franz E. Winkler, the man who had originally introduced him to the works of Steiner, and expressed his concern. Dr. Winkler told him that as long as he was true to himself, it could never be a contradiction.

And so he embarked on a career as a copywriter with his ideals intact: He would never write for tobacco, alcohol or the meat industry, and he stuck to those principles for his entire career.

In his later years, my father wrote an essay that was published for the Anthroposophical Press: “A Comparison of Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, and Knowledge of Higher Worlds, by Rudolf Steiner.” He had written many famous jingles, several children’s books and a wonderful screenplay about the boxer Daniel Mendoza, but it was in this essay that his most fulfilled work shone through. He delighted in the response to it, the depth of it. He was somehow able to explain the esoteric in simple English.

This is not to say that my father looked down on his life in advertising; he knew he had a talent for it, I would say a great talent, but I’m just a gloating daughter. But he constantly struggled to enrich his inner life while working in an industry that was only skin deep. At times that was frustrating for him; but at other times he really enjoyed it. However, it wasn’t who he was. It wasn’t where he wanted to be. He always told me his dream was to retire to the countryside somewhere in New England, just to be left alone with his books and his study groups. And he did just that at the young age of 50, and embarked fully on a lifelong dream.

As I became more prominent in my career as an actress and voiceover artist, I began to understand what an effect he had in the advertising world. People knew him, respected him, reacted to his name as though he were an iconic figure. He was known as The Man who created “Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz.” I got a kick out of showing up to my voiceover sessions and hearing the writers ask me if my father had approved the copy. When I landed the Chase Bank campaign, I told my dad and he brought out his portfolio that had his original ad from the ’70s: “The Chase is on!” He kept everything he had ever done, and he showed them to me with a gleam in his eye.

I know my father has helped many people find their inner peace. He was heralded as a great teacher, friend and leader in his community in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where he had retired. But I also know that without his ability to sell a product in 30 seconds and excel at it so beautifully, he wouldn’t have been able to reach all the curious minds that ask the question, “How can we live in truth, goodness and love?” As he often quoted from Socrates, one of his favorite philosophers: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

And that’s exactly how he lived his life.