In Memoriam: Leo Carlin

A familiar man about town, walking his handsome gray poodle, Beau, on Warren Street and around courthouse square, Leo Carlin died on Saturday.

Flâneur and raconteur, Leo was generous with his praise and support for things that met with his approval and equally generous and often harsh with his criticism of things that did not. An unapologetic Luddite, Leo never figured out how to comment on Gossips and instead frequently reacted to posts with cryptic email messages. In the very last email I received from Leo, he lamented,  "How can you discuss city planning with a group who rarely travel south of Kingston, or [have] seen an architectural journal? They have no sense of vistas . . . or that architecture can change a city, even if only a street corner." 

Leo indeed had that "sense of vistas," as well as a refined appreciation of architecture, art, music, food, and other people. A mutual friend, at whose home I first met Leo, said of him, “He knew how to throw a good dinner party and how to be a good guest. A lost art on both accounts.” 

Hudson has lost another of its inimitable characters. Rest in peace, Leo Carlin. You will be missed.
COPYRIGHT 2017 CAROLE OSTERINK