Fourteen years

Eero Saarinen and his associates spent 14 years tweaking the design of the Gateway Arch to get it just right. Not too round, not too pointed. Today, art lovers look up in awe at his creation, while math geeks are amazed at the equations written to describe it. It’s one of the many reasons it was such a joy to write my book “The Making of an Icon: the Dreamers, the Schemers, and the Hard Hats Who Built the Gateway Arch.” You can buy it just three weeks from today at the book’s release/signing party at the Tavern of Fine Arts, 313 Belt Ave., in St. Louis’ Central West End. The time is 2-5 p.m., and the date is Saturday, April 5. Be there, and be amazed.