Members' 25-Year Reminiscences

Laurence Conway Gerckens, FAICP

Hilliard, Ohio

My life has been enriched by involvement with the profession through (first) AIP and ASPO, and (then) APA/AICP. Through AIP's section/chapter system (it had this when ASPO was solely a national organization), I came to make personal acquaintance with the planners in my metro area (Columbus, Ohio) and in the tri-state Ohio/Kentucky/West Virginia region. I came to know the planning directors and primary staff members of the major planning agencies and worked with them in creating meeting programs. I met historic figures of the planning profession, such as Laci Segoe (who, with Alfred Bettman, invented the comprehensive plan concept), and those who would shape the future of the profession, such as Israel Stollman, the first executive director of APA.

After a chapter presidency, I had the pleasure of serving on the National Board of AIP when the concept of a co-joined APA and AICP (then referred to as "the merger") arose, and participated in the decision to convert membership in our professional association from a state chapter committee peer-acceptance (or "blackball") system with no fixed national membership requirements (applicants could "shop" from chapter to chapter until one would let them in!) to today's nationally administered standard exam system.

APA and AICP have defined my extended family. Meetings were soon seen as family reunions with other dedicated professionals, academic and in practice, constantly reminding me that I was not alone; there were people I knew and respected who shared my values, concerns, and travails, and who were willing to share their experiences with me. These associates became among my best friends. Now, as I enter my 70s, I am made even more acutely aware of how much I value these friendships as others pass from the scene.

When I look back over the last 25 years, and over the last 45 years, I am amazed at the progress we have made in education and practice in the planning profession and I am delighted with both the degree and quality of support rendered to American planners and their communities through the APA research and publication programs.