Charleston Renaissance Man

"Charleston Renaissance Man is an exquisite tribute to the life and career of Architect Albert Simon that reveals the many roles he assumed over his remarkable career. His civic leadership in sympathetic design and continued guidance in historic preservation reveal his deep love and commitment to the Carolina Low Country."—Michael A. Tomlan, Professor and Director, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation Planning, Cornell University

"Ralph Muldrow is a meticulous scholar who has illuminated the complex character of Albert Simons, the work of Simons & Lapham as Charleston's premier architectural firm of the twentieth century, and Mr. Albert's work to further historic preservation and race relations in his native city."—Robert P. Stockton, architectural historian, The College of Charleston

"Ralph Muldrow's engaging biography of Albert Simmons reminds us of a not-too-distant time when architects practiced both architecture and historic preservation. As the great architectural historian John Summerson phrased it, 'Knowledge of architecture flourished when architects who drew also wrote, and when historians who wrote also drew.'"—Bryan Clark Green, architectural historian, Virginia Commonwealth University

"Charleston Renaissance Man is a book for all lovers of southern architecture, all those interested in historic preservation, and all scholars that treat those topics. While the book is ostensibly a biography of the great Albert Simons, it is also an endearing snapshot of Charleston in the 20th century and the artistic milieu that it occasioned. Every historic home and business in downtown Charleston should own a copy."—Duncan Stroik, AIA, Professor of Architecture, University of Notre Dame

"While Muldrow includes images of exquisite drawings from Albert Simons' office, he has also written a beautiful love letter to the City of Charleston and The Charleston Renaissance. A must read for architects, preservationists, and social historians who will marvel at the vitality of a southern city reconciling the rise of modernism and its impact on the visual culture of this most traditional city."—John Blatteau, AIA, founder and principal of John Blatteau Associates