I first met David in Japan in 1971. He was so kind in guiding me, a naive, recent UBC grad, through the complexities and beauty of Japanese culture. He especially introduced me to the world of mingei, and remained my cultured friend right up to his death, and beyond.

I met David when he was an architecture student at UBC. My associations with David was either social, or casual. While working on the Memorial for David for the past 6 months, I learned a lot about his interests, his work, and his involvement in the community. We all have different memories of David, and my most vivid memories will be of David, in our backyard in his casual outfit , laying paving stones and stomping it into place. I also remember sharing vacations with David, meals at his favourite restaurant or at home with his special family recipes. There are many happy memories, to be remembered and cherished.

When I first met David, he had recently come back from a visit to Japan. When I first went to Japan, David, with my father’s uncle, met me in Tokyo. Many of my first explorations into the vast mega-city that is Tokyo were often with David---- he was much more adventuresome with his instincts and the Japanese language than I was. And he was living ‘native’ . When I introduced a very special friend to David, he later said to me that “She is ’cheeky’”. I thought she was ‘spunky’ . Months later, David was the first to know that I had proposed to her. Several years later, David attended Masami and my wedding in Tokyo and was the master of ceremonies for the reception which followed. He conducted the proceedings completely in Japanese and I believe that his easy and confident manner as he welcomed Masami to her future life in Canada somewhat eased the concerns of her family and relatives. Back in Vancouver, as Masami and I settled into our life here, David continued his travel and work in Asia and he kept us abreast of the changes he observed in Japan. He had an empathic yet critical view of Japan which we appreciated. He was a wonderful friend. And I think, up there, Masami is taking David to task for referring to her as ‘cheeky’. She has ‘spunk’.

In loving memory of my dear son, David.