Noted Southern California-based Landscape Architect Courtland Paul passed away on January 28 of congenital heart failure due to complications with his pacemaker. He was 75. Paul was very isntrumental with licensing of Landscape Architects in the state and was the Landscape Architect on many of Southern California?EUR??,,????'???s master planned communities such as Irvine, Mission Viejo and Lake Forest. In 1951, Paul opened his own practice and in two years time had a staff of four designers and 20 crew members. In 1954 he was one of the first licensed Landscape Architects in the state of California. ?EUR??,,????'??He started the licensing law for Landscape Architects in California,?EUR??,,????'?? Burton Sperber, President of ValleyCrest Companies and friend of Paul?EUR??,,????'???s for more than 50 years told LASN. His wife of 55 years, Nadine remembers the early days of Paul?EUR??,,????'???s career fondly. ?EUR??,,????'??First he had a landscape contracting company,?EUR??,,????'?? she said. ?EUR??,,????'??He had been a gardener since he 14, and one day he told me, ?EUR??,,????'??I don?EUR??,,????'???t want to build landscapes anymore, I?EUR??,,????'???d rather design them.?EUR??,,????'??? We had never heard of Landscape Architecture and Cal Poly, where he went to school, only offered ornamental horticulture classes at the time, so that?EUR??,,????'???s what he took.?EUR??,,????'?? Nadine said that shortly after he began his schooling at Cal Poly, they had their first child and Paul went to work. ?EUR??,,????'??He worked for a landscape company that was owned by several rich men,?EUR??,,????'?? she said. ?EUR??,,????'??He went in one day and asked for more money. Well, they fired him instead and he ended up starting his own business. His former bosses told him he wouldn?EUR??,,????'???t last six months on his own.?EUR??,,????'?? In 1955 at age 27 he became a founding member of the American Institute of Landscape Architects and served as director for five years. Later he was appointed by then governor Pat Brown to a four year term on the California State Board of Landscape Architects. Paul, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects changed the name of his company to the Peridian Group in 1976 as he told Landscape Architect and Specifier News in 1986, ?EUR??,,????'??to reflect an aura of permanence about the company.?EUR??,,????'?? ?EUR??,,????'??They broke the mold and threw it away after him,?EUR??,,????'?? said Rae Price, principal at Peridian. ?EUR??,,????'??Nobody else compares. He was a real forward thinker in the profession. He learned the hard knocks way. He was basically self taught and built his company from the back of a pick-up truck.?EUR??,,????'?? Paul was one of only a few people to appear on the cover of Landscape Architect and Specifier News, when his smiling face and well-known bow tie graced the March 1986 issue. ?EUR??,,????'??He was one of the most inspirational Landscape Architects/people I have ever met,?EUR??,,????'?? LCN publisher George Schmok said. ?EUR??,,????'??His ever present bow tie always accompanied a smile that brought grace into every room in which he entered. I am just one of truly millions who have experienced his influence. I can only hope the Good Lord was getting ready to open a new region in heaven and needed the best help he could get, if so, He definitely got the best.?EUR??,,????'?? Paul is survived by Nadine, four living children (one deceased), nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Nadine told LASN that last December, Paul experienced one of the great thrills of his life getting to see his granddaughter?EUR??,,????'???s wedding. ?EUR??,,????'??He wasn?EUR??,,????'???t going to go, because he shouldn?EUR??,,????'???t have been flying but we both made it there,?EUR??,,????'?? Nadine said. ?EUR??,,????'??He was so happy he went. It meant so much to our grand-daughter.?EUR??,,????'?? He meant so much to so many, whether it was those he worked with or those who now now call the communities he helped design home, Courtland Paul will be missed.