Bill sought a life that seeks direct experience, is drawn to beauty and simplicity, creates rather than critiques, and encourages others.
His hands were often the first thing you noticed. Moving quietly, deftly in harmony with some tool. Bill loved tools. He loved them for their design, their beauty and for how they provided a way into an idea. No matter the material (wood, fiber, leather, paper, metal, bark, horn and beyond) each creation was an experiment in the joy of learning. And, each tool -whether found, adapted or made new- was a key partner in the experiment. The adventure and the excitement of the new discovery and the new learnings were what mattered.
He constantly encouraged those around him to take part in this intoxicating joy of learning through making things. Working with Bill on any idea or creation was always a catalyst for conversation........conversations with meaning. "What is beauty?," he would ask. "How could we improve on this design, make it simpler, lighter...." "What does a democratic chair really look like?"
Bill provided a certain "pull." The tools and the making of things were really just a foil to get at the key solutions toward making a better world. Whenever you were with him, you could feel that pull, that re-awakening of your creative self and of the things that matter.
How does Bill's life inspire you? Consider your own gifts and offer them to others. Share your tools, your designs, your learnings, your excitement.