Written by Jean Mclendon

Bob Spitzer, JD, MD, Publicist, Philanthropist, Visionary, Brother, Mentor, 2006 Living Treasure and husband to our dearest sister, Becky Spitzer, died at home with his extraordinarily loving family at his side on December 17. He was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor on November 6 at Stanford Hospital.

Many of us in our community miss him a great deal. Bob was unforgettable, funny, brilliant, perceptive and mischievous. He was sweet and huggable and an adventurer of life, both as it was and could be. He saw beyond the struggles of the day and reached persistently and sometimes perseveringly for how things could be different. He believed strongly that we are all kin and that if we could see our planet and ourselves from space that we could connect to our ‘oneness’ and create a unified and free world. From an imagined distance, he saw the order in chaos.

There is so much to say about Bob, so many appreciations and so much gratitude to him from those of us who were fortunate to know him. Perhaps for our community, we most need to appreciate how he supported Virginia and her work. He was with her at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto before she went to Esalen. He published her seminal works Conjoint Family Therapy and The New Peoplemaking. He always believed that her genius at understanding what it means to be human offered a unique platform for positive change for all people and all times.

Bob, if you are out there in space, where you liked to travel, I hope you can see and hear how much you are loved and that we are continuing to work to make the world a better place. Thank you for being one of our important leaders.

Jean McLendon