30 Fuller's Lost Diary Entry

1 As R. Buckminster Fuller became better known, more time was demanded of him. His office work, his studio time, his publications, and his invitations soon got out of hand. There simply was not enough time in one day. Always the New England gentleman, and always accommodating, Bucky would fall into the trap of trying to be in three places at one time. Because of his constant traveling, Bucky kept three watches. One watch was set to the time zone of his office time, which was also Anne’s time. The second watch was set to the time zone where he currently was, and the third watch was set to the zone where he was to appear next—his thought was always anticipatory.

2 After his move to Pennsylvania, the dynamic and chaotic Philadelphia office needed order. His Chronofile, the basis of Bucky Fuller’s archives, demanded it. The chore fell to Shirley Swansen Sharkey, one of his students from Southern Illinois University, who had been helping his Carbondale secretary, Naomi Smith Wallace. Shirley helped move Bucky’s office to the University of Pennsylvania’s Design Science Center. With a staff of able assistants—Kiyoshi Kuromiya, Peter Kent, Ann Mintz, Amy Edmundson, Rob Grip, and Chris Kitrick, among many—Bucky appointed Shirley his executive administrator. Shirley has also served as a member of the board of the Buckminster Fuller Institute.

3 Shirley Sharkey kept Bucky’s schedule, which he sometimes called a diary. Reproduced on the following pages is the last diary entry of R. Buckminster Fuller.

4 On June 23,1983,1 had flown to Chicago to rendezvous with Bucky, to be interviewed with him for the hanging library, as I was the Design Adjuvant for Bucky’s “Hang It All” invention. The unit was to be produced by the Thonet Company, and Time magazine wanted a story on Bucky’s latest patent.

5 June 24 was to be the last time that I was to be in Bucky’s company. I hugged Bucky as he boarded the airplane. He died seven days later, on July 1, 1983, in California, at Lady Anne’s bedside. Anne died thirty-six hours later.





6 Jun.14 Tue. 10:00am	7 Temcor Board of Director’s Meeting. 8 2825 Toledo Street, Torrance, CA 9 Stay: Pacific Palisades
10 Jun.15 Wed.	11 Stay: Pacific Palisades
12 Jun.16 Thu. 12:00n.	13 Fly from Los Angeles, CA United #1110
14 15 1:12pm	16 Arrive San Francisco, CA 17 Stay: Mark Hopkins Hotel
18 Jun.17 Fri. 11:00am- 6:00pm	19 Speak at opening of new North Face Headquarters, 999 Harrison St., Berkeley, CA 20 Contact: Bruce Hamilton
21 22 10:00pm	23 Fly from San Francisco, CA TWA # 50
24 Jun.18 Sat. 2:00pm	25 Arrive Philadelphia, PA (met) 26 (note: the plane was re-routed to New York and BF arrived in Philadelphia via bus from NYC) 27 work in Philadelphia office
28 29 6:40pm	30 Fly from Philadelphia, PA TWA #756 31 (with Shirley Sharkey)
32 Jun.19 Sun. 6:20am	33 Arrive London, ENGLAND (met)
34 9:00am- 12:00 n	35 Breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. Jones and Joyce Burke-Jones of Cleveland office at Stafford 36 Datuk Lim Chong Keat arrives Stafford Hotel 37 Stay: Stafford Hotel "16 St.James Place, London, England

38 n. cuuKi’ixiMO i cr\ ruui.cn uxhcxt r/tjo

39 Jun. 20 Mon. 9:00 am-Breakfast with Lim Chong Keat at Stafford





40 41 4:30 pm	42 Great Portland Street, telephone
43 44 6:30 pm	45 Tea at Stafford with Lim Chong Keat
46 47 8:30 pm	48 Dine with Lim Chong Keat, Shirley, Cedric Price at Etoille Restaurant 49 Stay: Stafford Hotel

50 11:30 am-Meet with Norman and Wendy Foster, 172-182

51 COURTESY OF THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER INSTITUTE

52 H. BUUM'lll’OICrt rULL-tK

53 D1AHY

54 1VH3

55 COURTESY OF THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER INSTITUTE

56 Jun. 21 Tues. 9:00 am Break-fast meeting at Stafford w/ Aida Svenson
re: London Integrity Day

57
58 10:00 am Interviewed by Chris Nicolson of BBC-Radio re: skyscrapers
59 12:00 n.-Meet with Norman and Wendy Foster
60 6:00pm Her majesty the Queen of England has given her consent for the award of this year’s Royal Bold Medal for Architecture to be made to Norman Foster. Formal presentation ceremony to be held at Royal Institute of British Architects, 66 Portland Place, London BF to act as sponsor. (BF gives 10 min. talk)
61 dinner follows
62 Stay: Stafford Hotel

63 9:00 am Meet with Louis Hellman re: BF cartoon book

64 Jun.22 Wed.

65 10:00 am-Meet with Paul Matthews, Lim Chong Keat,
4:30 pm Norman and Wendy Foster, Loren Butt re:
autonomous dwelling project

66
67 4:30 pm Interviewed by Richard Boston for The Buardian newspaper, Stafford Hotel re: CRITICAL PATH
68 Contact: Hutchinson Publishers 011-44-1-2811
69 5:00 pm Picked up at Stafford by Oliver Caldecott of Hutchinson Publishers
70 5:30 pm ^gtgrvigwed_tbčjoğ|C’s Kaleidoscope program
71 6:30 pm Meet with Michael Blickman
72 7:30 pm Dine with Norman and Wendy Foster, Shirley, Jmes and Jill Mellen, at Odins Restaurant 27 Devonshire Street
73 Stay: Stafford Hotel

74 R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER DIARY 1983

75 Jun. 23 Thur. 9:00 am Meet with Lim Chong Keat, James Meller

76
77 10:00 am Meet with James Mel I er, Raymond Foulk of Milton-Keynes
78 11:00 am View completed model of Garden of Eden dome. Foster’s office
79 1:00pm Fly from London, ENGLAND Concord
80 (with Shirley Sharkey)
81 12:20pm Arrive Washington, DC (Dulles) See John H. Lee in customs
82 Helicopter to Nat’l Airport (pilot John Nielsen)
83 Limo to White House
84 1:00pm SF S< Ann Lewin present proposal for "Scenario Universe" Exhibit for Capital Children’s Museum, to members of U.S.Counsil for World Communications Year 83
85 2:30 pm Meet EJA at Nat’l Airport
86 2:45pm Fly from Washington, DC (Natl.) Midway #5-3 (with S.S.)
87 3:50pm Arrive Chicago, IL (Midway) (met by limo)
88 5:00pm BF & SS attend TIME Magazine's Chicago Jubilee Dinner Dance to honor men S< women with connections to Chicago who have been subjects of TIME cover stories. Museum of- Science & Industry, 57th St.S< Lake Shore Dr. (black tie)
89 Contact: Jean Gussenhouen