Frank Gehry

Not that long ago at a party given by the painter Joe Goode, I was introduced to the architect Frank Gehry.

I pretended not to know who he was, as he didn't know who I was, thinking by this pretense that we'd at least begin our relationship on equal footing.

Soon we were each speaking about what each of us did for a living, while standing face to face in the kitchen.

I am an architect, Frank said. I am a writer, I said, who owns an advertising and public relations agency.

We quickly came to a conversational impasse, in which Frank lost interest in me. It became clear that I, and I alone, had been appointed project manager and Frank was the architect for whatever relationship Frank and I would be building.

The most difficult thing about my business, I said, is working with clients that want to change everything I do. I never change anything, Frank said, I'd rather walk away from a project than compromise.

Good for Frank.