Tricycle | Awake in the World

“WHAT DO YOU THINK OF when you hear icon?” I ask at the dinner table a few days before my fifteen-year-old daughter and I visit Frederick Franck, a ninety-six-year-old Dutch-born artist who is the author of The Zen of Seeing and about thirty other books.

“I think of Carl Icahn, the corporate raider,” says my husband, Jeff.

“I think of a computer icon,” says Alexandra.

“Nobody thinks of a religious icon,” I comment.

“Do you mean like the Dalai Lama?” asks Alex.

“A celebrity or someone who embodies particular qualities can be a kind of icon,” I say.

“Carl Icahn could be considered a celebrity icon,” says my husband.

“Plus, I have pictures of celebrities on my website, so technically they can also be computer icons,” adds Alex.