This online scrapbook is a compilation of pictures and memories from Phil and Jan's friends. If you have pictures you'd like to share, email me at susan@dino.com and we'll figure out how you can get them to me. You can also send me comments and suggestions at the same email address.
The Karltons arrived in Pittsburgh in the fall of 1971, when Phil entered the PhD program at the Computer Science department at Carnegie-Mellon University. They left CMU for California in 1978. Some memories include the CSD Egg Toss Team and CSD Halloween Party in 1972 as well as Jan's cooking.
Having obtained her BFA with honors from the Maryland Institute of Art (Baltimore) in 1961, Jan Karlton's art work spanned the years from roughly the mid- to late-1950s until the present. She exhibited her work on over 45 occasions. Jan's artistic approach can best be illustrated by her following statement. "I make art which looks sophisticated, childish, and a little bit bizarre. Individual pieces may vacillate between disturbing, silly, or grotesque and appealing, in a strange sort of way. Most of the art that I do is really about people. The fact that the human situation is disturbing, silly, grotesque and appealing with subtle variations and combinations all along the way, explains much about my work." Some examples of her work include a self portrait with David, Christ, Buddha and Confucius at the Beach and the recurring theme of dogs
Phil worked at Xerox SDD in Palo Alto with the The Mesa Group and the Mesa Tools Group from 1978 to 1984. He moved across town to the Western Software Lab at Digital Equipment Corporation from 1984 - 1989. From 1984 - 1995 he settled in at SGI, and from 1995 to 1997 he was principal curmudgeon at Netscape.
The community around the Karltons loved to eat together and they had several long-standing annual dinners. The Wok Lucks were a regular Mesa group dinner. The Mesa group also celebrated lobsters and John Wick at the Annual Lobster Dinner. Jan and Phil always hosted a big Thanksgiving dinner at their house.