I graduated from U of T medical school in 1965, completed my internship and headed to Malaysia to work in a remote hospital for the next two years. I then travelled to India for the next year where I discovered and practiced Buddhist meditation learning from a teacher in Bodh Gaya. This was a turning point that I thought of as the ‘opening of my spiritual eye’. This was followed by more travel, a locum in southern Ontario, studying Spanish, travelling in Cuba, and a year at the London School of Economics trying to sort out the conjunction of Buddhism and Marxism. I then started a residency in psychiatry at McMaster University in Hamilton Ont. The centrepiece of all this activity was my marriage to Harriet Heitlinger in Dec 1970, the best decision I ever made, a marriage which has thrived for over 50 years.
We had children Sarah, 1974, and Simon, 1977. Besides working as a psychiatrist, I pursued progressive politics (Medical Reform Group of Ontario, Conscience Canada, New Democratic Party), and developed a deep meditation practice. In 1980 the family began attending Hamilton Quaker Meeting, which was to take a central place in our lives. A few years later I undertook the exercises of St. Ignatius, which led to ten years of reconciling Buddhism and Christianity within the Quaker path.
Our family was blessed with a grandson, Theo (2014), who, with his mother, moved in with us while she completed her PhD, and then again during COVID before moving to Boston.
I am grateful to have a medically assisted death (MAiD) and am exiting this world to whatever lies beyond with anticipation.
In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer that you make a donation to the Canadian Friends Service Committee.