Tryon native Holland Brady has been practicing architecture in Tryon for well over half a century and remembers every house he has designed and has a story to go with each one. He has also made a personal study of all the significant buildings in the town and the architects who designed them.

Brady will speak about architecture and other matters at the Lanier Library at noon on Tuesday, April 19. The program is free and everyone is welcome.

Born and raised in Tryon, Brady was absent from the town for any significant period only twice: the first time, as a teenager, to serve as a medic in the U. S. Army in England and Germany during World War II, and shortly thereafter to attend Michigan State University in Ann Arbor to get his degree in architecture.

After coming home he courted and married Carolyn Flynn, the eldest daughter of Tryon’s Postmaster Broadus Flynn, and began work under Tryon architect Shannon Meriwether, later becoming his partner and eventually taking over the firm.

The Lanier Library is also significant in Brady’s life and career since he worked there after school during his years at Tryon High School and later designed an extension to the building.

When asked what he would like to speak about at the library he said, “Do you think people would like to hear about Mary Frances Carpenter?” He then went on to describe the library’s diminutive, but colorful, librarian for whom he worked as a teenager. The answer to his question was, of course, “Yes.”

The program is part of the Lanier Library’s monthly Brown Bag Lunch series, held on the third Tuesday of each month. It is free (as is the coffee) and audience members are encouraged to bring along a bag lunch if they so wish. Everyone is welcome.