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- The Gazette (Colorado Springs, CO)
November 26, 2009
Calvin Peter Otto
Calvin Otto, community activist, library advocate and Board Trustee, dies Calvin Peter Otto, a Pikes Peak Library District Board of Trustees member and champion of literacy, historical preservation, and community engagement, died Monday, November 22 in Colorado Springs. He was 79.
Otto's impact on Pikes Peak Library District has been far and wide. He was involved with numerous library activities and programs, particularly with PPLD's All Pikes Peak Reads program and the annual Regional History Symposium. He was appointed to PPLD's Board of Trustees in March 2003. "Cal's energy, intellect, and passion will leave a void in our Board, in our library activities, and in the hearts and heads of many of us who have worked with him closely and who have relied on his creative ideas and sage counsel," said PPLD Executive Director Paula Miller. "His indelible mark on us, both organizationally and personally, will last for many years to come."
Otto, born in Detroit, Mich., served in the Korean War and was stationed at Camp Carson in 1953. He met his wife Patricia Reed in Colorado Springs and they were married in 1954. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1958 he worked for Prentice-Hall book publishers in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and Bolt Beranek and Newman in Cambridge, Mass. His textbook "Management of Training" was published in 1970. After buying Wood Flong Corporation in Hoosick Falls, NY in 1972 he expanded the business, marketing stereotype mats worldwide. Otto purchased a paper mill in England, where he met others who collected paper items which were interesting but not meant to be saved, which became known as ephemera, or more affectionately, as "wastebasket archaeology." Later he was one of the founders of the American Ephemera Society and served as its president for many years. He was elected to the prestigious American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Mass. "Cal had a childlike interest in almost everything, but he was best known for his expertise in the esoteric," said Tim Blevins, PPLD's Special Collections manager. "There is not much about which Cal was not an expert. He gave everything his fullest passion and his positive energy sparked enthusiasm in others and, more importantly, inspired actual results."
Otto served on the Boards of Directors of the Vermont Council of the Humanities, the Virginia Humanities Council, and the Coloardo Humanities. He retired in 1985 and followed his love of collecting and publishing. His exhibits in the Dome room at the Rotunda at the University of Virginia included of "Only in Cloth: Publisher's Bookbindings 1830-1910." Otto was co-founder of The Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, Virginia, and developed the Virginia Arts of the Book Center, dedicated to printing and printmaking. When he left Virginia, the Charlottesville community elevated him from "founding father" to "patron saint", an expression that humbled him. After moving to Colorado Springs in 2001 he was asked to help develop the All Pikes Peak Reads Program, now entering its ninth year. "Cal encouraged us to rethink the program each year, seeking ways to make it more engaging and a better literary tool. Every meeting and conversation with him was an exploration of possibility," said Dee Vazquez, co-chair of All Pikes Peak Reads. Otto was appointed to serve as a Trustee of PPLD, was president of the PPLD Foundation, and had been involved in the annual Pikes Peak Regional History Symposia, the founding of the 1905 Carnegie Garden, and many other collaborative projects. "Cal was actively involved in with PPLD, its Friends, and its Foundation. He played a significant role in positioning this library district for the future and in planning library service for the people of the region. We will miss his leadership," said Rob Hilbert, president of the PPLD Board of Trustees. Cal's service also included board membership with the Colorado Springs Chapter of the World Affairs Council and UCCS Theatreworks. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Otto; his daughter Sharon Mertens, Gary H. Mertens, and grandson Christopher Mertens; his son James R. Otto; Laurel Otto, and grandson Nicholas Otto.
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1930 - 2009 (79 years)
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