HORACE HAVEMEYER III

HAVEMEYER--Horace, III, died March 19, 2014, in his home in New York City of complications from CIDP, a chronic neurological disorder that rendered him quadriplegic in mid-2011. He was 72. He is survived by his beloved and loving wife Eugenie Cowan Havemeyer, his mother Rosalind E. Havemeyer, his siblings Rosalind H. Roosevelt, William E. Havemeyer, and Christian Havemeyer, and his uncle Harry W. Havemeyer. He was a lifelong sailor and a watercolorist. Horace achieved his life-long goal of being a publisher. His trajectory lead from his childhood on a family farm in Dix Hills, Long Island, where sailing became a passion, and the family summer home in Islip designed by Grosvenor Atterbury. He went to East Woods School on Long Island, graduated from Pomfret School and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, in Geneva, New York, in 1964. He served on the Hobart Board of Trustees from 1980-85 and 1991-97. After college, as the fourth generation of eldest sons, he joined the family business, the National Sugar Refining Company; he began in the Philadelphia factory, learning the chemical processes. When the family business was sold in 1969, he moved to New York City and was Production Planning Supervisor at Doubleday book publishers for a decade. There he learned the editorial and business operations of book publishing and nurtured his thirst for learning, from medieval to contemporary, which he stored in his immense memory bank. Courses at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies led to his working for Skyline, the IAUS journal, until it closed. In 1981, he founded Bellerophon Publications and served as Publisher of Metropolis magazine and of Metropolis Books, a joint venture with DAP since 2002. From its first issue, Metropolis was in the vanguard of architecture and design, encompassing environmental sustainability, and ranging from preservation to contemporary planning. Horace's intellectual and practical curiosity framed his vision for Metropolis: to posit and answer the questions what, why, how, and to focus on the collaborations and challenges involved in any project. Its editorial perspective has been described as "the conscience" of the field. The magazine's reach now includes educational tours led by long-time Editor-in-Chief now Publisher - Susan S. Szenasy. Its competitions, such as Next Generation, discover new talent and new resources, such as the 2013 focus on low-cost solutions for the disabled. Through Metropolis, Horace was instrumental in developing the annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair, held each May at the Javits Center, and included a vanguard lecture series sponsored by Metropolis. In 2006 the American Society of Interior Designers, New York Metro Chapter, created the Horace Havemeyer III Award to honor his on-going dedication to the design community. Its annual State of Design lectures provide a platform for an open, constructive dialogue on what shapes 21st century design. In December 2006, Horace and Susan were awarded honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees by the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. In 2007 Horace, Susan and Metropolis received the August Heckscher Award from CIVITAS "for their twenty-five years pursuing enlightened and intelligent documentation of life in urban America, especially New York City". In 2009 the American Institute of Architects awarded Horace, in behalf of Metropolis magazine, the Institute Honor for Collaborative Achievement, "reaching a broad cross-section of design disciplines, touching all elements of design excellence, it speaks to elemental and contextual innovation, including, but not limited to ecological insight, livability, and community development; in short, the spectrum of all goals of the architectural profession." He was a co-founder and director of Exploring the Metropolis, Inc., a non-profit organization led by his wife Eugenie Cowan, focused on the built environment, specifically solving workspace issues facing New York's performing arts and cultural communities. A memorial service will be held on May 2, 2014, at 11:00am at St. James' Church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions in Horace's memory be made to Exploring the Metropolis, Inc., 61 West 23rd Street, New York 10010, or to Hospital for Special Surgery: ALS Research c/o Dr. Dale J. Lange, 525 East 71st Street, 5th floor, New York, NY 10021.