by Ruth Planey
Asheville storyteller, David Novak joins Good Morning America’s David Hartman, Balsam Range and others January 9-11, 2015 for The Best of Our State at the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Asheville. Sponsored by Our State magazine the weekend celebrates all things North Carolina. An accomplished storyteller and professional actor, David brings to life the story of R. Buckminster Fuller’s success with his unique geodesic dome.
It all began in Black Mountain, North Carolina. R. Buckminster Fuller (Bucky) is best known for his invention of the geodesic dome, the world’s most stable architectural structure. Today there are thousands of domes, ranging from the largest, Fukuoka Dome in Japan, to the most popular, Epcot Spaceship Earth in Florida. Bucky’s domes continue to provide housing and shelter world-wide.
For many years, Bucky worked on the problem of creating light-weight, affordable housing, that could be easily assembled and transported. In the summer of 1948, Bucky brought his dome design to Black Mountain College, an experimental learning community in Black Mountain, NC. Because the only building materials he could afford were aluminum strips used for venetian-blinds, his first effort collapsed. Rather than abandon his project, he famously dubbed the collapsed building his “supine dome”. He returned to Black Mountain the next summer to try again and, as they say, the rest is history.
Fuller first piqued David’s interest in 1970 when he was 15. The Apollo mission had landed men on the moon and the entire world now saw itself from space. For years, Buckminster Fuller said “we are all passengers on a beautifully designed spaceship – Earth” and he was right!
“I was saturated with the science-inspired hopes of the times,” Novak said.
Influenced by a mother who was a science teacher and a father who started an aerospace engineering company, as a teenager David was a would-be poet, philosopher, and actor. In the midst of this mix of arts and sciences, Bucky was calling for everyone to do their own thinking: “Only the individual disregards his fears and can deliberately find the time to think in a cosmically adequate manner.”
In 2012 North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville, asked David to use his talents and create the character of R. Buckminster Fuller for a one-man play by D. W. Jacobs, R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of The Universe, based on Fuller’s life and writings. Taking on the role of Bucky is now part of David’s vast repertoire or folktales, ancient myths and originals works.
“David’s portrayal of my father is the most accurate and sensitive interpretation I have ever seen,” said Bucky’s daughter, Allegra Fuller Snyder, after seeing the play.
On February 21 & 22, 2015 David Novak returns to The Black Mountain College Museum in Asheville, to perform “R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of The Universe” by D. W. Jacobs. For more information contact the museum: 828-350-8484.
