Lans was born Jan. 2, 1927, in Philadelphia, the son of Lansing Holden ’19 and Edith Gillingham Holden.

He graduated from Hotchkiss School and served in the Air Force prior to coming to Princeton, where he majored in architecture, was president of the pistol team, and was active in Orange Key and Quadrangle. He roomed with Bruce Huber, Lou Kelly, John Mott, Howie Parks, Fred Riehl, and Ben Webster.

Lans and Elizabeth Hattauer were married in 1953. He began his career with Architectural Forum magazine and then spent most of his working life at Time-Life Books. He also was a member of Arctic Tundra Expeditions, headed by his brother-in-law, anthropologist John J. Teal.

In the 1970s, Lans and his second wife, Carol Young Holden, settled in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, where Lans made a living from local architecture and contruction between excursions to the South Pacific and Asia.

In later years they settled in Sedona, Ariz., where he not only indulged in his passion for fly-fishing but was an expert ship modeler. Both Lans and Carol were longtime members of the Final Exit Network; on July 26, 2010, they ended their lives together. Lans is survived by his daughter, Cynthia.

Undergraduate Class of 1951