An event last Saturday to celebrate the life of Eric Lassen was wonderful. Eric was a dynamic community activist who gave years of dedicated service to the Summer Solstice Celebration and to the massive, 20-year-plus renovation of the Santa Barbara Bowl. Once known to all as the County Bowl, the Bowl in its present brilliant and beautiful incarnation was certainly the appropriate place fo this occasion.
After earning his Master’s Degree in Architecture, Eric worked for Sasaki Architects in San Francisco, a large, highly respected firm. Eric designed the Del Mar Fairgrounds and several buildings at UCSB. In short, he was a very capable and experienced architect. But Eric had no interest in speaking about his high profile architectural career for as long as I knew him on the Solstice Board of Directors.
As is often the case at memorials, the sadness of Eric’s passing was softened somewhat by the wonderful group of people who came to pay him tribute. It was a wonderful reunion for many of us, and impressive in the large and wide-ranging group that held Eric in high regard.