JULY 27, 2019 – Thursday evening my wife and I spent four hours in and around a work of art, hosted by our dear friends, the artists themselves, Jack and Linda Hoeschler of St. Paul. They are not artists in the way most people think of artists, and I doubt Jack or Linda would ever call themselves “artists,” since their eclectic lives reach so far beyond the world of art. Yet what they have created, with the aid of a professional, is a recognized, award-winning magnum opus.
This being our first encounter with this particular work of art, we were overwhelmed by its scope and scale, beauty and originality.
This work of art has been in the works for 25 years. It’s living, breathing, and . . . beautiful to behold. It is a Japanese garden, but on the scale of a good sized city park. Under the grand command of internationally acclaimed designer John Schlassen, but with Jack and Linda’s signatures everywhere, it reflects metaphorically, Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Its many wonders bring tranquility to the heart and mind of anyone who enters the space. It is zen.
We should not have been surprised by this art, since Jack and Linda excel at the art of living. Brainiacs, both of them, they have leveraged their many gifts to become pillars of our community—in law, business, the arts, and countless other pursuits. What’s more, they have fetching personalities, boundless energy, endless curiosity, enormous hearts, a sense of humor, and refinement in all that they undertake—ideas, designs, new music, visual art, hosting a meal and conversation with friends. They are as comfortable in the wilderness of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area as they are taking their grandsons to the opera. They are world travelers, voracious readers, and the kind of people who actively cultivate a broad network of friends who themselves are pillars of the community.
And when someone in dire straits enters their lives, they pull out all the stops to make a difference. Their brand of charity is “hands on” and “all hands on deck.”
When it comes to politics, history, religion and economics, Jack and Linda are so free from the fetters of conformity, they don’t think “inside the box” or “outside the box.” They think without a box but with broad horizons, deep experience and constant study. I wasn’t the least surprised to learn back in 2000 that when the ultimate independent, Ralph Nader, was campaigning (for president) in Minnesota, he was Jack and Linda’s overnight guest.
Each encounter with Jack and Linda reveals something new and amazing—about their zest for life and and about the world. From them one learns intellectual courage, the meaning of engagement, and the power of pragmatism. The garden revealed yet another facet of their extraordinary gifts.
Our meal Thursday evening was as delectable as the conversation, and the conversation was as delectable as its surroundings—Jack and Linda’s work of art, their Japanese Garden.
© 2019 Eric Nilsson
