Marshall Jones | Wright in Racine

Tower Tumult: On August 14 I posted about the critical situation facing Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma (I do not know why the URL mentions the unrelated SC Johnson Research Tower). The post includes a variety of photos of Price Tower:

https://wrightinracine.net/tag/sc-johnson-research-tower/

Oklahoma Frank Lloyd Wright Price Tower 002.jpg

On January 16 a judge ordered that utilities (heat) be restored to the building. On January 21 he ordered the sale to a responsible party from Tulsa that is known for their restoration of an historic hotel there. On January 22 the current owners filed for bankruptcy. They have still not turned the utilities back on, and so this saga drags on. The question of Wright artifacts from the building that were given to an auction house in Dallas, in spite of an easement prohibiting that has not been resolved, either. Among the heroes in this story are the staff and legal counsel of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. Their continuing updates on the story are at:

https://savewright.org/endangered-price-tower-in-bartlesville-oklahoma/

The Building Conservancy is going deep, deep into their funds set aside for legal work as the battle to save the building drags on. Please don’t let the sunset on the building, as I literally did when I took this photograph in 2014. Hint: they would welcome your financial support at:

https://savewright.org/give/

Remembering Ann MacGregor: On November 23 I posted a tribute to the late Ann MacGregor, one of the heroes in Mason City, Iowa’s successful quest to save Wright’s only extant hotel commission, the then-dilapidated Park Inn Hotel and adjoining City National Bank building. The hotel is now a successful boutique hotel:

https://wrightinracine.net/2024/11/23/remembering-ann-macgregor/

LR Pre-dinner 012.jpg Ann MacGregor with Scott Perkins of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, 2012

My tribute to Ann mentioned her long-term correspondence with Marshall Jones, a friend of mine, who is serving two consecutive life terms for homicide in Wisconsin. He became interested in Wright after I interviewed him for a project about the criminal justice system.

LR Marshall Jones Waupun 014.jpg

I wrote Marshall to tell him about Ann’s passing, and sent him a copy of my story. He wrote me back last week (mail to the prison system faces interminable delays while it is sent to a place in Maryland that copies incoming letters and then sends the copies to inmates) with his own tribute to Ann:

“I appreciate you for sending me the news of Ann’s passing. A part of me was deeply saddened, but another part of me was greatly appreciative that I had the privilege of being considered her friend, She was so much more than someone that I corresponded with. She was someone who brought unconditional love, unconditional positive regard, she allowed me to peer into her beautiful family, and she gave me priceless guidance. She didn’t see me by my conviction, nor did she allow me to accept my worst decision as the resounding theme for my life. She was ruthless when it came to goals, and when you said that you wanted to accomplish something, she pressed you until it was done. She was amazingly supportive and she encouraged me with gentleness and love. You knew that Ann had your back. We talked about Mr. Wright, religion (we were both Christians), politics, family, and life. Her disposition increased in positivism even in the face of diminishing health. So, I am grateful for her life, and for her presence in my life. I was so blessed by her, and I am better because of her friendship. It was much deeper than correspondence. With Ann and Bruce (Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer also corresponded with Marshall), I was family. I now carry her with me everywhere I go.”

Well, Marshall, my story was more of the nuts and bolts of her life, as we used to say in the newsroom. You captured her essence. Thank you.

Photos and text © Mark Hertzberg (2024)

Ann MacGregor one of Mason City, Iowa’s heroes in helping save Frank Lloyd Wright’s last surviving hotel, the Park Inn, and the adjacent City National Bank, died peacefully October 2, it was announced today.

LR Wright Spirit Awards 028.jpg

The hotel and bank buildings, which opened in 1910, had deteriorated so badly that the city had put them up for sale on eBay in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Mason City rallied to save the buildings. Ann served as Executive Director of the newly formed Wright on the Park. Today the Historic Park Inn Hotel is a popular boutique hotel for visitors to Mason City, whether or not they are there on a Wright pilgrimage.

Ann was a genial, giving person. Her obituary outlines her life of service, including as a nurse on the medical ship SS HOPE and as a public health nurse for the Migrant Action Program in the late 1960s in Mason City.

https://www.bratleyfamilyfuneralhomes.com/obituary/ann-macgregor

In 2013 she published a book about her six years service around the world on the HOPE, beginning in 1958 [it is no longer in print]:

Screenshot 2024-11-23 at 4.06.54 PM.png

I met Ann in May 2005 when the late Bob (Dr. Robert) McCoy, another one of Mason City’s heroes in saving the hotel and bank building, invited me there to give a talk, and I began photographing the buildings. They were still in a raw state. Ann and I connected in two other ways, one as passionate bicyclists.

The other story tells you quite a bit more about Ann. She began corresponding with Marshall Jones after I told her about his insights into Wright’s work. Jones is serving two consecutive life terms in a Wisconsin prison for a double murder.

LR Marshall Jones Waupun 014.jpg

When I interviewed Jones in 2008 for a project about the criminal justice system he told me how much he enjoys reading “anything I can get.” I sent him my Wright in Racine book. He quickly sent me an incisive review back. We began corresponding, in large part about Wright. How much does Jones understand Wright? In addition to Ann being impressed by his insights, the late Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer corresponded with Jones, as well, after I sent Pfeiffer some of Jones’s letters about Wright’s work. When I sent the late Ron McCrea Jones’s review of his Building Taliesin, McCrea wrote me that Jones picked up on a point that no one else had, and he was going to quote him in a talk at Taliesin West. Ann corresponded with Jones for many years, and Jones often wrote me how much he appreciated her letters and friendship. Now I must write him about Ann’s passing.

Ann’s memorial service will be Saturday November 30, as noted in the obituary. I will leave you with a photo of Ann in the bank building in 2010, and of Ann and Bob McCoy she and Wright on the Park were honored with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy’s prestigious Wright Spirit Award on October 13, 2012, during the group’s annual conference:

LR City Natl. Bank 2010 001.jpg