I'm a new subscriber to the list and, just today, stumbled upon the discussion of Art Stump and his work.
I ran into Art in the early sixties while working as a computer programmer for System Development Corp. in Santa Monica. Art and I were actually neighbors. SDC was located on Colorado Avenue between 26th and 23rd streets and Art's workshop was housed in a small industrial bay at Colorado and 30th or thereabouts. We were both avid cyclists, of course, and I often spent lunch hour visiting with Art in his shop. Art's personal bike was a mid fifties Bates with a spring suspended saddle and upright handle bars. He rode it everywhere, frequently logging several hundred miles in a week.
I don't really have the time or energy to write the comprehensive "My Lunches with A.D.Stump" but one story, which typifies his attitude towards the important things in life, really _must_ be told.
Hanging above his work bench in Santa Monica was a beautiful Hetchins Magnum Opus curley bike with original equipment including Cinelli bivalent hubs! Art said that he had placed it there "for inspiration". I argued that it really should be used for the purpose for which it was build rather than simply providing a beautiful static display and, after months of campaigning, he agreed to sell the bike to me. Thinking it over, I told Art that I couldn't bring myself to buy it. The bicycle was simply too intimidating for me to ride. I'd live in constant terror of destroying a work of art. It was safer to just leave it hanging over the work bench. "Nonsense", said Art "If you feel the bike about to slip, just stick out your arms and legs and cushion the frame with your body." "But if I did that, I'd break every bone in my body." "Yes, that's true", he replied, " but you'll eventually heal. Once the bike frame is crushed, it's gone forever."
Thanks for your indulgence, list members.
Martin Needleman in Annapolis