The Globe and Mail

With his portfolio in hand, Maxwell Starkman boldly set out from Winnipeg in the late 1940s to make the long journey to Los Angeles. His goal there was to meet Richard Neutra, the man often called the grandfather of contemporary architecture in California. Impressed by what he saw, Mr. Neutra hired the young aspiring architect the following year, after Mr. Starkman had completed his degree at the University of Manitoba, earning the school's Gold Medal in Architecture.