The Story from APM

Attachment to Oil

Monday, January 28 2008

Attachment to Oil

Garry Eiden

Garry Eiden has worked all his professional life in the oil industry. Despite being in an explosion that blasted him 20 feet through the air, having his back broken and being burned, he loves it. But it was never something he wanted any of his children to do - he thought it was too dangerous and too hard on the body.

Tug Eiden

Yet one of his sons, Tug, fell in love with the oil fields as a toddler. Tug can still recall fetching his dad a wrench that had fallen between field pipes. Tug worked for a while as a roughneck, doing exactly the kind of labor his dad did, but eventually he heeded his dad's advice, went to college, and now works as a petroleum engineer.

Garry and Tug talk to Dick Gordon about their lifelong love affair with oil fields.

The beauty of a barn

Frank Harmon

Frank Harmon grew up visiting his uncle Emmet's farm in east Tennessee. The barn was a great place to play, but after he studied architecture in England, he saw the barn differently: as a model of efficient, environmentally-enlightened design.

Frank realized old Southern farmers - and indeed, farmers everywhere - picked up cues from the light, the landscape, and the seasons, and built structures that snugly fit the unique qualities of both the culture and the place. Frank talks to Dick about the lessons he has learned from farms and nature.

• Learn more about Frank's work
• See Frank's sketch of Uncle Emmet's barn
  
• See pictures of Standen House, the building that first opened Frank's eyes to the wisdom of regional design