Bucky’s campaign on behalf of the success of all humans and life on Spaceship Earth was the focus of the last phase of his life from 1976 until his death on July 1, 1983. During that period, he was continually traveling, making presentations, writing and sharing as much of what he had learned as possible. It was a last ditch effort to make certain that his life was complete and that the had given everything possible in support of his mission to create “a world that works for everyone.”
Bucky wrote and published a detailed explanation of all that he had learned and found to be true regarding the human experience in his final major book, Critical Path. It outlines the course humankind must follow if we are to survive and thrive, and it explains that we have entered into a new era of sufficiency, you and me, cooperation and peace in which previous solutions and behaviors such as war, competition, politics, and corporate domination are obsolete.
This is the wisdom and the challenge that R. Buckminster Fuller left for us. His insights are as much a shining gem of hope and possibility as they were when he traveled around Spaceship Earth sharing his positive perspective that we can succeed as a species and be good stewards of our planet if we cooperate and shift our resources from weaponry to “livingry.”
Bucky remained true to his mission for 56 years. During that period, he saved and archived every possible aspect of his life, creating his Chronofile and making his life the most documented of any “ordinary, average” person in the history of humankind.
Although his personal experiment has yet to be fully examined, the success of Bucky’s life is indisputable. After discovering many of the natural underlying principles that govern all Universe, Bucky applied them to every aspect of his work where he:
• Was granted twenty-five U.S. patents.
• Wrote twenty-eight published books and thousands of articles.
• Received forty-seven honorary doctorates.
• Was presented with hundreds of major awards.
• Circled the globe fifty-seven times working on projects and lecturing.
• Presented an average of one hundred “thinking out loud” sessions per year (often labeled lectures, they would range from two to six or more hours in length), even when he was in his eighties.
Most important was his documentation and demonstration of the importance of the “little individual” in the grand scheme of human evolution. Living as a global citizen, Bucky was able to teach by example—showing us with his accomplishments and seeming failures that each of us possesses tremendous gifts that we can contribute to others and help create “a world that works for everyone.” He also proved that a person could have a satisfying, enjoyable life while making his or her unique contribution.
Dr. R. Buckminster Fuller died on July 1, 1983, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, where he was faithfully watching over his beloved wife, Anne, who was in a coma and not expected to regain consciousness. Sitting at her bedside, hand in hand with his wife of sixty-six years, he felt something and exclaimed, “She squeezed my hand!”
Moments later, Bucky experienced massive heart failure and died. Anne never regained consciousness and died thirty-six hours later. They were buried together in Milton, Massachusetts under a tombstone that reads “Call Me Trimtab.”
The conscious nature of his life and death became more obvious when a neat stack of papers was found on his desk. The note on top of those papers asked the finder to please make sure that this material was published, as it was the final thing Bucky had to say.
Although that material was published years later as the book Cosmography, it does not seem to be the last thing Bucky has to say. For many of us, he continues to speak and remind us again and again that humankind has entered its “final examination” and that we can survive and thrive if we begin cooperating with one another and working for the betterment of all life on Earth.
HIGHLIGHTS OF “AN AVERAGE MAN’S” LIFE
CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER
1904—Enters Milton Academy, Lower School.
1910—Bucky’s father, Richard Buckminster Fuller Sr. dies.
1913—Graduates from Milton Academy and enters Harvard University (Class of 1917).
1914—Expelled from Harvard and sent to be an apprentice millwright in remote Canadian mill.
1915—Reinstated at Harvard and expelled for a second time. Takes a job with Armour & Co in New York.
1917—Enlists in Navy Reserve. Marries Anne Hewlett.
1918—Promoted to lieutenant and assigned as aide to admiral commanding all transports in the Atlantic during World War I. First child, Alexandra, born.
1919—Appointed Communications Officer on the USS George Washington and supervises President Woodrow Wilson having the first ever transatlantic radiotelephone conversation (from France to the United States).
1922—Alexandra dies in his arms just prior to her fourth birthday. Bucky feels responsible for her not having better housing and he begins his lifelong quest to provide excellent shelter for all people.
Begins working as an entrepreneur, founding Stockade Building Corporation, manufacturing buildings with a revolutionary new technology.
1926—Is fired as president of Stockade Systems when the company is consistently unprofitable because Bucky has chosen to build good buildings rather than make a profit.
1927—Second child, Allegra, born.
Considers himself a failure and contemplates suicide. Has mystical experience in which he is told that he does not have the right to kill himself and that he will only speak the truth from then on. Dedicates himself to the service of all humanity. Writes and privately publishes first book, 4D Timelock.
1929—Displays model of 4D round house at Marshall Field Department Store. Coins and copyrights the word “Dymaxion” to describe house and other inventions.
1933—Establishes Dymaxion Corporation to successfully design and build first prototype Dymaxion Vehicle.
1935—Prototype Dymaxion Vehicles #2 and #3 are completed and displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair. Writes Nine Chains to the Moon.
1936—Meets with Albert Einstein who is amazed that Fuller could conceive of a practical application for Einstein’s theories.
1938—Nine Chains to the Moon published. Joins Fortune magazine as science and technology consultant.
1940—Works on development of Dymaxion Deployment Units at Butler Manufacturing in Kansas City.
1941—Quits drinking and smoking as an anniversary gift for Anne and to further his mission without his behavior as a hindrance.
1942—Joins US Board of Economic Warfare as Director of Mechanical Engineering.
1943—Full-color, punch-out rendition of Dymaxion Sky-Ocean World Map is published in Life magazine resulting in the largest printing of the magazine.
1944—Begins design and production of prototype Dymaxion House in conjunction with Beech