Background and Personal Life
Stevens was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 7, 1911. Stricken with polio as a child, Stevens was encouraged by his father to practice drawing while confined to his bed, perhaps motivating his career in design. He studied architecture at Cornell University from 1929 to 1933, and established his own home furnishings design firm in 1934 in Milwaukee. His son, Kipp Stevens, ran the Brooks Stevens Design Associates until late 2008 when he stepped down.
In 1959, Brooks opened a 12,500sf automotive museum in Mequon, Wisconsin, which became a repository for his own designs as well as others—and became a production facility in the late 1980s for the Wienermobile fleet. The museum closed in 1999, four years after his death.
Brooks Stevens died on January 4, 1995, in Milwaukee—survived by his wife Alice, sons Kipp, William and David, a daughter Sandra A. Stevens, and five grandchildren.
Read more about this topic: Brooks Stevens
Famous quotes containing the words background and, background, personal and/or life:
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“Glamour cannot exist without personal social envy being a common and widespread emotion.”
—John Berger (b. 1926)
“The touchstone for family life is still the legendary “and so they were married and lived happily ever after.” It is no wonder that any family falls short of this ideal.”
—Salvador Minuchin (20th century)