In honor of the memory of Mr. Hal Malt, 1918 - 2013, his wife Carol donated funds which enabled the Legation to restore a set of beautiful cedar doors - hand-carved by medina neighbor Said Mechnini - which are the main entrance to our distressed Pavilion building.
Here is what Dr. Carol Malt wrote concerning her husband, who passed away almost one year ago:
HAROLD LEWIS MALT
1918 – 2013
Harold Lewis Malt (Hal), 94, passed away on January 3 at his home. Born in Pittsburgh, PA, he was preceded in death by his parents Isadore and Florence and his son Bruce and is survived by his loving wife Carol and daughter Ilene. He received his MFAID from Carnegie-Mellon University and MID from Syracuse University.
He served in the Army Air Corps during WWII as a P-39 (Airacobra) fighter pilot. After the war he formed two companies that provided services to Army and Navy agencies in Washington DC. His companies expanded to include urban design and planning services for HUD, LEAA and other federal agencies, receiving national industry and government design recognition for his work and publications. Notable were the 5th Biennial Housing and Urban Development Award for Excellence of Design, naming him Expert Advisor for the physical environment and a prestigious Design Recognition Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is the author of 35 monographs, two books on design and the historical novel, The Tangier Option.
Later, joining the faculty at the University of Miami as professor of architecture and planning, he moved to Miami and continued as a consultant in urban design and as city planner for Hialeah Gardens and Virginia Gardens. His projects also included museum feasibility surveys and urban design for the Pensacola Downtown Improvement Board.
Moving to Pensacola as professor emeritus in 1991, he continued his consultancy and writing. He will be well remembered for his talents, achievements, mentoring and friendship.
Hal was - and Carol continues to be - a friend and supporter of the Legation, and we always look forward to Carol's annual residency in Tangier, which always means engagement with the Legation. It's help from friends like this which keeps the Legation alive, and we are thankful.
We hope that her gesture serves as an inspiration to the US State Department to proceed with the critically urgent restoration of the historic Pavilion building, which is suffering from major structural stress. We now have "crack monitors," which enable us to measure the size of our wall fissures. Crack repair is now in order - might we hope for progress in 2014?
Text Gerald Loftus, photos Mohammed Jadidi, TALIM.