Herman H. Lackner
(1912-1998)

Herman H. Lackner was born in Evanston, Illinois, on June
20, 1912. He possessed a unique educational history. In a news-
paper interview several months before his death, he said that he
flunked Montessori kindergarten because he drank the paint water
and that he failed to graduate from North Shore Country Day
School (Winnetka, Illinois) for "ditching" football. He attended
Harvard University for two years, where his studies were cut short
by the Depression. He then studied at the Armour Institute of
Technology (now the Illinois Institute of Technology), but left be-
fore graduation because of "a difference of opinion with the dean
on educational theory."
Despite his educational background, Herman earned his archi-
tect's license, a profession that had dominated his interests from
childhood, and went to work for General Houses, a Chicago
building firm. In 1940 he joined the architectural firm of Holabird
& Root. Some two years later he enlisted in the Seabees and spent
the war years working on the construction of bases on Guadal-
canal and other Pacific islands and in the Philippines. Following
his return to the United States in 1945, he opened an office in
Winnetka, where for the next fifty-three years he concentrated on
designing new homes and renovating existing homes. His consid-
erable reputation was based on the updating of classic homes in
the North Shore area.

Lackner became a member of the Chicago Literary Club in
1955. He was president of the Club during the 1968-69 season and
also served as recording secretary for sixteen years. He was an ac-
tive member of the Centennial Committee and was largely re-
sponsible for compiling the appendices to The First Hundred Years.
At the time of his death, on June 26, 1998, he was a member of
the committee preparing for the celebration of the Club's one-
hundred-twenty-fifth anniversary.

For those who knew Herman, his friendly presence at our
weekly meetings perhaps transcended his many contributions to
the Club. His genuine interest in people was always evident in his
conversation and his actions. Experiences gleaned from his trav-
els to a host of foreign destinations and his wide-ranging intellec-
tual interests made him a popular participant in the Club's liter-
ary exercises. During his forty-three years as a member, he
presented twelve papers, one of which. Day by de Senectute, was
published by the Club.

Read before the Club: January 11, 1999