VIVIAN BLACKSTONE - A REMARKABLE WOMAN

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Former Campo artist now creating film on cofounder of Rancho La Puerta

By Mimi Pollack

On July 24th, 2014, my good friend Vivian Blackstone will celebrate her 86th birthday. A woman in excellent health, she has lived an unconventional life with an artistic, bohemian and spiritual bent. That artistic side still continues as she is working on a film about Edmond Szekely [aka the professor], who along with Deborah Szekely, created and developed the world famous spa and resort in Tecate, Mexico, called Rancho La Puerta. This film is important to Vivian as the professor was an influential person in her life and she hopes this film will honor him and the influence he had on her.

In 2010, as she was getting older and looking back on her past, Vivian became inspired to make a film on the professor and his legacy. She thought it was time as “she was one of the last ones walking who knew and loved him, and took to heart what he had to offer”. She has been working on the film ever since and it is still a work in progress. In her film, she wants to show the many things the professor advocated that need to be remembered and regenerated. Vivian’s belief is that one needs to know the past in order to create a better future.  Up until recently, she also gave lectures at the ranch while working on the film.  Many guests enjoyed hearing about the history of the ranch from one of the characters who lived it. Vivian believes once the film is finished, it will be her way to honor the professor, and perhaps, one of the most important ventures they shared together, the creation of Mille Meditations.

In April 1962, Vivian was exhausted from an intensive period of working in Los Angeles, where she lived at the time, and needed to take a break. Through some friends, she found out about Rancho la Puerta and decided to go there. She had heard it was a place that advocated a healthy, holistic lifestyle. A week later, she met the Professor, and this meeting changed her life. She began a new chapter in her life. She left everything she had in Los Angeles to begin a spiritual quest under the professor’s guidance. She put her life in the professor’s hands.

Edmond Szekely was a brilliant and unconventional man. The professor was born in Hungary, but left as a young man and traveled extensively around the world. He was a philologist, philosopher, psychologist and a linguist who spoke several languages. He was also an Essene and one of the founders of the Biogenic Society. He took Vivian under his wing, and she became a close family friend.

In July 1962, the making of Mille Meditations began. Vivian moved to Campo and lived in a remote house on 80 acres of land that the professor had bought. He had a vision and wanted Vivian to help him bring it to life with her artistic talents. His plan was to build history stations all around the property, and create a two mile path of all the high points of civilization. Each station had a platform for meditation, so one could contemplate the sculpture, the surrounding nature, and that moment in history. Vivian lived there alone, in the middle of nowhere, but she was not afraid. Every week, the professor stopped by, brought her a box of food, and gave her tasks to complete, such as sculpting heads of Greek and Roman philosophers at the stations.  For Vivian, it was a challenging and lonely existence, but also a spiritual learning process. She lived in silence until the professor brought in a trusted Mexican man to work there. In addition to the above, they put in steam rooms, a swimming pool, and a huge, outdoor chess board. This great feat was accomplished in a year. At the end of that year, Vivian and the professor produced a book about her experience called “Journey through a Thousand Meditations”. The book consisted of different folios for each civilization.

The professor called this labor of love “Mille Meditations” or a “Thousand Meditations”. Guests were invited from Rancho la Puerta and the Golden Door to come and see it. Unfortunately, the concept was not successful, and the professor ended up selling the land.  The next year, the professor bought the house next door to the Szekely family house in San Diego, and Vivian moved there. She continued to study on a spiritual path with the professor. They collaborated together until 1972 when he left the country. For all the hard work put in, the vision to open a place for public contemplation was never realized, and has since been forgotten. Vivian hopes to rekindle that memory with her film as she feels it is part of ranch history, and part of her past.

Vivian has been on a creative path most of her life from the time she was young. She was born in New York City in 1928. She began her artistic life at a young age and studied extensively. She graduated from the School of Industrial Art in NYC with a major in book Illustration in 1946. At the young age of 17, she went to work as an artist in a publishing house. During this time, she also studied illustration for a year at New York University Extension, life drawing at Arts Students League, and painting and poetry at the New School for Social Research. In 1948, Vivian and her family moved to Los Angeles. She continued to study design at the Kann Institute of Art and the concept of language of vision with Saul Bass.

One of her great passions was calligraphy, and the age of 19, she started her own company. This was a bold move for someone her age in the 1940’s. She created custom made stationary for three specialty stores in NYC. The business was a success and many orders poured in. However, after two years of intense, non-stop work, she needed a break and closed her company. She also decided to leave the family home and move into her own place, another thing that was not common in those days, but in many ways, Vivian was a woman ahead of her time.

She became very interested in the new concept of design, and worked as a free lance artist and graphic designer. She opened her own studio and worked on album covers, calligraphy, ads, etc. She was a free spirit who rather than taking the more common route of the time, which was getting married and having children, chose to work and be a part of the bohemian world. She worked hard and made a name for herself. In the late 1950’s, she began to work as an assistant art director at a company that worked with Las Vegas hotels and shows. 

In the early 1960’s, she was successful enough that she was able to work for six months on and six months off, and continue her non-traditional life. She had been mentored by several talented men, but probably, the most important one was the professor.

 After her experience with the professor, Vivian moved to La Jolla and did freelance work and design. She was hired as the art director at both the Golden Door and Rancho la Puerta. Although the professor was out of the picture, she continued her personal and professional relationship with the Szekely family. She also continued making films and that became her primary way to express her art. She combined her work with her interest in natural healing and spiritual teachings. In 1973, she met Richard Lorrance who became her husband. Together they made the first movie in America on acupuncture. It was called, “Introduction to Acupuncture”, and was produced by Wexler films. Although she married later in life, her marriage lasted for eleven happy years until his death in 1984.

In the 1980’s and early 1990’s, Vivian was still working for the Golden Door, Rancho la Puerta, and other clients. In 1982, she bought a home in Rancho Bernardo to be closer to the Golden Door as she was working on a new cookbook for them, doing all the photography of the healthy, natural recipes. This piqued her interest in gardening, and thus her new passion in life began. She began to put in raised beds and plant trees, so she could cultivate some of her own food. Ever the business woman, she opened a small business that made deliveries of fresh fruits and vegetables to local restaurants. To this day, she continues to garden every day, and finds gardening as another way to express her creativity.

In 1989, while at Rancho la Puerta, Vivian met another creative force in her life, James Hubbell, the noted San Diego architect and artist. He was creating a special project at the ranch. She was very intrigued by the man and his vision. He believed that “Beauty could save the world”. Vivian began to work with him and made a film on the experience at the ranch, called “Kuchumaa Passage”. She and Hubbell became good friends and she continued to collaborate with him on various projects. They worked together for over 10 years and traveled to Russia, Mexico, and China. She enjoyed making films showing Hubbell’s creativity.

Finally, helping and doing what she can for others has become second nature for Vivian.  She contributes to various charitable organizations and has also adopted many dogs over the years. She currently lives with two Boston terriers who keep her entertained and active. These days, she has been putting most of her creative and artistic energies in her beloved film.  She hopes it will be her well received homage to a man who had a positive impact on her life and that of others, especially since his ideas were part of creating the renowned Rancho la Puerta.

Mimi Pollack is an ESL teacher at Grossmont College and freelance writer,


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