A MAN OF MANY PASSIONS: Stephan Platzer
By Seth Stutman
Photos by Heather Lynn Photography
Published in Longmeadow Neighbors May 2025
A photographer, sailor, writer, and advocate, Stephan Platzer and his family moved to Longmeadow in 1959, when he was eleven years old. Thirty-seven years later, he moved back again, with his wife and three children.
“We first lived on Longmeadow Street across from Center School. My mother wanted a house with a beautiful sunset view and found it on the western side of Longmeadow Street. At that time, my parents had an apple orchard, and our neighbors had a sheep farm - it was different back then.”
Platzer attended Tufts University, where his passion for photography began - and it didn’t hurt that he met one of the industry's most famous photographers, Ansel Adams. Incidentally, he also crossed paths for the first time with his future spouse and acclaimed author Linda Cardillo, but more on that later. He was a soccer player and runner. His claim to fame was that he was on a relay team, which set a record in the Boston Garden.
“I took a photography course with the famous black-and-white, Natural Parks photographer Ansel Adams. He was consulting for Polaroid in the Boston area at that time. During the course, he looked at my photographs and told me that I was 'good, but not good enough.' Therefore, I went into the science of photography.”
Platzer received a BS degree in Chemistry from Tufts (and later a PhD in Silver Halide Photography from Rutgers) and was able to blend his love for pictures and chemistry. In his career, he has earned 62 U.S. Patents for photo-imaging systems. For several years, Platzer commuted to Wake Forest, North Carolina, where he was Director of Research and Development at Southern Lithoplate, which produced 85% of the newspaper printing plates in the U.S., using the technology from Stephan’s patents.
Stephan, a member of the Springfield Photographic Society, continues to be an avid photographer and recommends the following tips: (a) learn how to use your camera; (b) be patient and wait for the “perfect cloud;” (c) move your feet to get the right aspect; (d) experiment with the light at different times of the day; (e) back up your photos!
In New Zealand, there is a sailboat race where one has to tip the boat over and bring it back up. The lesson is about staying alive. Some of my friends don't like it when I purposely, intentionally tip the boat over to teach them. I usually do that on warm days, not when the water is freezing cold.
In the mid-sixties, Linda Cardillo and Platzer both attended Tufts - but they barely crossed paths. But this set of circumstances paved the way for eventual romance.
Platzer loves all artistic endeavours and that appreciation of the arts came from his parents.
"When I was a child, my mother supported the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. She knocked on people's doors to get donations. She fed the musicians during rehearsals, while I ran around inside Symphony Hall. It was my Code Playground. It was good that I never jumped over the balcony railings. Smiles. Later, my wife also worked to raise money for SSO. To this very day, I often go to the classical music performances. And my best friend's mother was one of the founders of this great orchestra. I have become friends with some of the musicians who play violin, cello, trumpet, and other instruments. Such local gifted people."
As if a chemistry career and a passion for photography weren’t enough, Platzer loves to sail - and wrote about it. He got his first sailboat, a Sunfish, from his parents as a teenager, which he sailed on Crystal Lake in Ellington, Connecticut. Today the same craft still takes him all along the Connecticut River.
Platzer continued to sail after his start on a Sunfish. His travels took him on a replica Viking ship from Norway to London, on a journey around Cape Horn in winter, and on a crew that sailed from Cape Verde to New England on the 19th-century Grand Banks fishing schooner, Ernestina-Morrissey (built in 1894), now the official vessel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
His time as the radio operator on the 1982 Ernestina voyage inspired him to write his first book, Bringing E Home. The book chronicles the 41-day journey from Cape Verde to Newport, Rhode Island, and how he and the crew of six Cape Verdeans and six Americans, plus a Cape Verdean captain and first mate, sailed the Ernestina home, navigating turbulent waters and surviving in close quarters.
“It was an amazing, fabulous bonding experience between the crew members,” Stephan said. “The saddest part of the story is that we had to say goodbye to our fellow crew members after spending three months together, surviving and taking care of each other. No one was seriously hurt.”
His second book, Everybody Has A Sunfish Story, was published in 2016 and is about the most popular type of sailboat in the world, with over half a million in the world. He still has his Sunfish sailboat, after 50 years, and his book chronicles 18 tales from the oft sailed craft.
For his life of dedication to sailing, Platzer was honored last fall with the Pioneer Valley Yacht Club Commodore’s Club 2024 Honoree award. Most people in Longmeadow don’t know about the Yacht Club, which has docks, a swimming pool, a clubhouse, and magnificent sunset views over the Connecticut River. A real gem.
For Stephan, the joy of the sport of sailing lies in its unpredictability.
“I am totally dependent upon Mother Nature, the wind direction, and underwater currents. I have gained a tremendous respect for the beauty and power of Mother Nature.”
“I love to sail with another person, never alone. It is always a strong bonding experience. I have gained many wonderful friendships due to sailing. If the other person does not know how to sail, I teach them.
“She was an English major, whereas I was a science major. My parents wanted me to be a medical doctor,” he relays. “Our paths never really crossed. She did date my freshman roommate. We went down different paths. When she graduated, she went to Harvard Business School, whereas I went to Rutgers University, to be with the former research director at Polaroid.”
It was at their class tenth reunion when sparks began to fly.
“We met because we had a mutual friend who lived in the area. I touched her hand for the first time on top of the Tufts Library where there was a reunion party, when I gave her a glass of wine. We immediately fell in love,” he recalls. “At the time, Linda was living in Boston and running a catering business, and I was in New Jersey. When I came to visit her, she cooked and I cleaned up after her, which I continue to do to this day.”
Eventually, as it does for so many, Longmeadow came calling and in 1996, Stephan and his wife, award-winning novelist Linda Cardillo, moved back to his home town with their three children: Luke, now a lawyer in Washington, DC; Nicola, a physical therapist at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albany; and Mark, a financial analyst with Amazon in Tokyo.
Platzer is busier than he’s ever been since he retired at the age of 72. He is a member of the Storrs Library Board of Trustees, where he is the head of the Buildings and Grounds Committee. His focus is on the Storrs Cottage, where the library was first located. He hopes that the history of the library will continue to shine.
Platzer is also the head of the Stand Outs in Longmeadow - a group of like-minded individuals who organize around social causes.
“We want to promote Love Over Hate and Stop Violence Now,” Platzer says. “We stand out every Friday afternoon from 4 pm until 6 pm, during Daylight Savings Time, at the corner of Western Drive and Longmeadow Street, by Picknelly Field in Springfield. People are welcome to join us. In 2009, Stevie Wonder got the United Nations Messenger of Peace award. He gave a concert, and I moved his piano. I got to know him, and his loss of vision. To this very day, vision and peace are extremely important for me … and others.”
Linda and Stephan are happy they moved to town, thankful for the foundation it gave their children, and appreciative of the nature that surrounds them. As a teenager, Stephan was a greenskeeper at the Longmeadow Country Club and continues to enjoy working on his lawn at home.
“We moved to Longmeadow because we wanted our children to have an excellent education and to be close to my aging mother, Hertha Platzer. Our children truly enjoyed life here and developed strong friendships with their classmates.”
Since 2020, Stephan Platzer has created the Longmeadow Arts Community Calendar, which highlights many gifted, local photographers and the flora and fauna of Longmeadow.
“The purpose of LAC calendars is to show others the gorgeous wildlife and historical buildings in Longmeadow. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by these wonderful, fabulous things. We are spoiled. We also give copies to the Longmeadow Historical Society, to preserve what Longmeadow looks like now for future generations,” said Platzer.
“I am very fortunate that Big Y in Longmeadow promotes and sells the LAC calendars so that others can enjoy these fabulous images. Be sure to purchase next year’s calendar, starting in early fall. Also if you have a marvelous photo taken in Longmeadow, please share with us.”
“I wish to live longer in this wonderful town. Therefore, I go to the Longmeadow Adult Center, to exercise, socialize, and listen to excellent programs. Another gem in my home town.
Stephan Platzer is just half of a power couple! Stephan’s wife, Linda Cardillo, is an award-winning novelist who will be gracing the cover of Longmeadow Neighbors this fall!
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