This website was put together by Eric Glandbard, a long-time friend of Michael’s, and Vera Graaf, Michael’s life companion of 16 years. We both felt that Michael was too inspiring in our and other people’s lives to just let him walk off the stage. We hope that many of you will contribute to this site by adding your own Michael stories.
Michael chose to be a talker rather than a writer. The 24 minute short “Stranger from Away”* by Max Scott and Vera Graaf is a vivid portrait of the man and his musings. Then there are his notebooks, which are copious and abundantly illustrated, filled with thoughts and wonderful drawings. And finally his photos, which he took throughout most of his life and then meticulously pasted into a half dozen of large leather-bound albums. Together, they form a record of a restless thinker, experimenter, tinkerer and aesthete who transformed everything he touched – from house to hotel room – into something you might call “Zimmer Space”. Through Zimmer Space – a world of its own, characterized by a certain whimsical order and the beautiful arrangement of objects in multiples – people could experience Michael. And they did this avidly, wherever he let them, whether in St. Barts at the Camp, in New York in his Harlem House, or on Grand Manan, in his so aptly named “Sardine Museum and Herring Hall of Fame”.
We hope you’ll enjoy browsing through this site.
*”Stranger from Away” is available for sale on amazon.com.