Here at the Forsyth house our hearts go out to you and John's parents in
what must be a desperately hard, sad time. I just wanted to say please
let us know if we can help in some way and also I wanted to let you know
how I am thinking about this tragedy.
Many years ago my sister killed herself with a heroin overdose. Was it an impulse, an accident or carefully intentional? I can't ever know because there was no goodbye note. Like John she was young, good looking, physically healthy and highly intelligent. Family and friends can't help but try to find answers the the source of such a tragedy. But over the years of looking for anything sensible in her death I have come to just see it as not much different from some other biological system failure-- Like a seizure of the heart or liver but in this case, of the mysterious neurology of the human brain. No conversation, no pill, no surgery can repair some of the things that go wrong in the fragile complex machine that we are. At some level all deaths are accidental and the inevitable consequences of biology going wrong in a way that is beyond our ability to change it.
The way a person has lived is vastly more important than the manner of their ending. For me John was all about doing good for our amazing world. In his thirst and appreciation for the splendor of human creation he had no peer. I remember when Sharon came home from first meeting John. She was so happy and excited to meet someone who knew so much, who cared so much, who was so full of enthusiasm for things she valued. Every hour I spent with John was exhaustively interesting---an hour with John was like a week with anyone else, in terms of what he might impart to you. There was never anyone so full of diverse passionate interests coupled with a prodigious knowledge and enthusiasm for the richness of the human cultural experience. Who else could explain to you the details of how to make biogas from guinea pig dung in the Andes, the best way to help organic tea farmers in the Himalayas and where to find the best goat cheese in Marin County - all in the space of five minutes? His flame burned brighter than the rest of us. I can not help thinking that John sometimes must of felt like a fish out of water when surrounded by plodding mediocrity, constrained by bureaucracy and thwarted by people who did not care as intensely as he cared for his work and ideas. We are very saddened to lose John. But the memory of John will not be a sad memory but an enduring, grateful happy one of a uniquely brilliant good man the likes of which I do not ever expect to meet again.
Please convey our condolences to John's parents and know our thoughts are with you.
Sincerely,
Adrian and Sharon
--
Adrian Forsyth, PhD
Vice President for Programs
Blue Moon Fund
Many years ago my sister killed herself with a heroin overdose. Was it an impulse, an accident or carefully intentional? I can't ever know because there was no goodbye note. Like John she was young, good looking, physically healthy and highly intelligent. Family and friends can't help but try to find answers the the source of such a tragedy. But over the years of looking for anything sensible in her death I have come to just see it as not much different from some other biological system failure-- Like a seizure of the heart or liver but in this case, of the mysterious neurology of the human brain. No conversation, no pill, no surgery can repair some of the things that go wrong in the fragile complex machine that we are. At some level all deaths are accidental and the inevitable consequences of biology going wrong in a way that is beyond our ability to change it.
The way a person has lived is vastly more important than the manner of their ending. For me John was all about doing good for our amazing world. In his thirst and appreciation for the splendor of human creation he had no peer. I remember when Sharon came home from first meeting John. She was so happy and excited to meet someone who knew so much, who cared so much, who was so full of enthusiasm for things she valued. Every hour I spent with John was exhaustively interesting---an hour with John was like a week with anyone else, in terms of what he might impart to you. There was never anyone so full of diverse passionate interests coupled with a prodigious knowledge and enthusiasm for the richness of the human cultural experience. Who else could explain to you the details of how to make biogas from guinea pig dung in the Andes, the best way to help organic tea farmers in the Himalayas and where to find the best goat cheese in Marin County - all in the space of five minutes? His flame burned brighter than the rest of us. I can not help thinking that John sometimes must of felt like a fish out of water when surrounded by plodding mediocrity, constrained by bureaucracy and thwarted by people who did not care as intensely as he cared for his work and ideas. We are very saddened to lose John. But the memory of John will not be a sad memory but an enduring, grateful happy one of a uniquely brilliant good man the likes of which I do not ever expect to meet again.
Please convey our condolences to John's parents and know our thoughts are with you.
Sincerely,
Adrian and Sharon
--
Adrian Forsyth, PhD
Vice President for Programs
Blue Moon Fund
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