AN ERA HAS ENDED WITH THE PASSING OF LEGENDARY PROFESSOR, LANNY SOMMESE

Lanny Sommese’s passing is the end of an era and that deserves to be in 72pt bold type.

When I studied with Lanny It was a different time. A time when you could yell at kids and toughen ‘em up. A time when you could challenge students in extreme ways. A time when you could speak your mind without fear of a lawsuit. A pre-digital time of freedom, experimentation and societal change.

He has been described in other tributes as fierce, unorthodox, untamed, brutal, unpredictable and demanding. Basically he scared the daylights out of us most of the time.

Why did we love him so much? Because he was an amazing designer himself (his work is in museums, The Library of Congress, etc) AND he was resolute in making us good. Content was king and everything else could go to hell until that was right. He was also wickedly funny and somehow we knew he was routing for us as he was preparing us for the real world of design.

IF you made it through the program by then he had armed you with enough determination and grit to want to be a part of something so badly it would take each of us into the world with an appetite to do gutsy things.

To one of the original rock stars, I’m grateful you were on this planet doing what you were put here to do, “Design shit!”. You shaped my life immensely and even introduced me to my first husband. It’s a damned shame you won’t be able to introduce me to my second!

All kidding aside, there is so much to say, but for now I thank you and will try to pass on all you taught me. Much ♥️ to you Kristen Sommese.