Stylin' with McHarg by Perri Peairs, Editor That the diverse events of Ian McHarg's illustrious life fit in 378 pages (plus indices) is a credit to reflective self-editing: not only the events of his life, but his sensitivity to the environment and humankind are conveyed. This reader must say she enjoyed the phrasing, partitioning, and pacing of events as much as the content. And, McHarg's life as he tells it is an adventure. His autobiographical tales--from the serendipity of his early apprenticeship to an unexpected encounter with barnacles (after jumping from a burning ship) to self-publishing (Design With Nature languished until the grant givers, unable to print the exhibits in color yet recognizing the imperative, relinquished the manuscript and the responsibility to the author)--read like literary motifs of his willingness to reach past the ordinary. Accordingly, adventure gives entree to a palatably-phrased philosophy of ecological planning and design that lights the way through which humankind can be what McHarg calls a "benign enzyme in the biosphere." As editor, I had the pleasure of a private reading of the most poignant and sensitive wish--"A Poem to the World's Children"--with which McHarg ends the story of his life and quest. If you are a reader who must skip ahead to the end to see if a book is worth reading, McHarg's dream and vision for the future as embodied in this poem is more than enough to inspire you to embrace the whole of his philosophy and implement the concepts of Design With Nature augmented in A Quest for Life. All photographs provided courtesy of Wiley & Sons, Inc. The landmark redevelopment of Battery Park City Park was originally visualized in 1966 as the Hudson River portion of a comprehensive redevelopment concept for Lower Manhattan by partner-in-charge David Wallace and consulting partners McHarg, Roberts, and Todd. Rendering of "The Lower Manhattan Plan" by Tom Todd.