WARWICK, N.Y. (AP) – Frederick Franck, whose art and writings reflected his deep interest in human spirituality, has died. He was 97.

Franck died June 5 of congestive heart failure at his home, his son said.

Franck’s mystical steel, glass and wood sculptures stand in public places around the country. Dozens of his works are on display at the six-acre sculpture park and meditation space he built with his wife, Claske Berndes Franck, near their home 50 miles north of New York City.

The park, Pacem in Terris, was dedicated to some of the people who crossed Franck’s life and inspired him, including Pope John XXIII and Daisetz T. Suzuki, who many credit with introducing Zen Buddhism to the West.

Franck was born in 1909 in Maastricht, Netherlands. He was a dental surgeon by trade, and worked with Dr. Albert Schweitzer for three years in Gabon where he sketched people and the jungle. Franck turned that experience into a book with his drawings, “My Days with Albert Schweitzer,” published in 1958.

In his drawing portfolio, Franck also captured the ecumenical council called by Pope John XXIII in the early 1960s. The pope’s reforms became a key influence in Franck’s work.

Franck and his wife bought the old grist mill in 1959 and worked on it over decades. The park is now open to the public during the summer, free of charge.

Franck wrote more than 30 books, including “The Zen of Seeing – Seeing/Drawing as Meditation,” published in 1973, and “To Be Human Against All Odds,” published in 1991. Many of his books explore comparative religion and spirituality.

Franck also was an editor of “What Does it Mean to Be Human?” The 2000 book collected essays from the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel and others.

Franck is survived by his wife of 46 years and son, Lukas.

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