Remembering David

[Daniel E.]

David pictured with his cat Mindy

Sadly, David passed away this weekend. He died peacefully and was in good spirits in his final days.

David started the Psychlinks forum in March 2004 when he was a practicing psychologist in Ottawa, Canada.

David was 75 years old. His full name was David Julian Baxter, and he was born April 25, 1947.

As David mentioned in the forum on different occasions, he had developed colon cancer, reminding us about the importance of colon-cancer screening by the age of 45: "My younger brother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at age 50."

This is the news I received this morning from one of David's sons:

Unfortunately he passed away this past weekend somewhat suddenly. We're not exactly sure what the precise cause was, but it was likely a combination of the cancer and the pneumonia together. I can say that he went peacefully, and he was not in pain, and he was joking around with the nurses and with loved ones in the final days leading up to his passing. The nurses said that he seemed like a really fun guy.

In addition to being very smart, David was very humorous and compassionate. There are countless online posts where David has provided solice to others over the last two decades, including myself.

More than most therapists, David espoused a person-centered approach. And always a computer geek (using Fortran and punch cards for his PhD thesis), David fully used the power of the Internet to provide hope to others. At the time Psychlinks started, there was relatively little psychological support available online.

Though David's positivity and humor are what I remember most, David was also intimately familiar with grief. These words from David about the loss of his daughter are especially poignant now:

Elizabeth Joyce Baxter (1978 - 1995)

We who are left behind wonder why... and why she is not here with us...

And yet... maybe we have it all backwards. Perhaps we who are left behind are here because we still have something important to do... or something important to learn. Perhaps she had already done what she needed to do, had learned what she needed to learn....

And perhaps when we learn what that is, then we too will have earned the right to move on, once again to be with her...

At the Psychlinks forum, David was open about the mental and physical challenges he faced over his lifetime, including grief, depression, OCD, and his cancer-related fatigue. The openness of David and other forum members made it easier for me to accept my own difficulties and vulnerabilities.

David was truly a wounded healer who selflessly helped others. He was also an intellectual with an infectious curiosity, writing about a variety of topics ranging from climate change to infantile amnesia to Stonehenge.

This forum is part of David's legacy -- to us and many future visitors who may find some words of hope or interest. And those of us who were lucky enough to know David will miss him greatly.

 

[Mari]

David pictured with his cat Mindy

Sadly, David passed away this weekend. He died peacefully and was in good spirits in his final days.

David started the Psychlinks forum in March 2004 when he was a practicing psychologist in Ottawa, Canada.

David was 75 years old. His full name was David Julian Baxter, and he was born April 25, 1947.

As David mentioned in the forum on different occasions, he had developed colon cancer, reminding us about the importance of colon-cancer screening by the age of 45: "My younger brother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at age 50."

This is the news I received this morning from one of David's sons:



In addition to being very smart, David was very humorous and compassionate. There are countless online posts where David has provided solice to others over the last two decades, including myself.

More than most therapists, David espoused a person-centered approach. And always a computer geek (using Fortran and punch cards for his PhD thesis), David fully used the power of the Internet to provide hope to others. At the time Psychlinks started, there was relatively little psychological support available online.

Though David's positivity and humor are what I remember most, David was also intimately familiar with grief. These words from David about the loss of his daughter are especially poignant now:



At the Psychlinks forum, David was open about the mental and physical challenges he faced over his lifetime, including grief, depression, OCD, and his cancer-related fatigue. The openness of David and other forum members made it easier for me to accept my own difficulties and vulnerabilities.

David was truly a wounded healer who selflessly helped others. He was also an intellectual with an infectious curiosity, writing about a variety of topics ranging from climate change to infantile amnesia to Stonehenge.

This forum is part of David's legacy -- to us and many future visitors who may find some words of hope or interest. And those of us who were lucky enough to know David will miss him greatly.

Thank-you Daniel, very sorry and sad to hear this. Condolences to his family.

 

[AndyB]

David was such a nice guy. When he had a question, I always enjoyed calling him so we can chat and I could answers his question more accurately. I will miss my friend.

 

[desiderata]

A real person who reached people through modern and private means without judgement. I suppose at times it was like tiptoeing through shards of broken glass given the fragile nature of those in despair and the complex subject matter. He asked many, many questions when a post was sent in order to understand the person, situation and the whole of the matter. You can only gain this insight through continued education, growth, experience and intuition. People trusted his advice because he earned their trust with careful navigation of the human psyche.
Oh yeah, he had a good sense of humor that was reflected on his site to keep things on the light side.