Happy Canada Day. It seems a good day to pay tribute to David Cayley, who died on June 10 here in Toronto. I only learned about David’s death last week, just in time to attend the memorial service at St. James Cemetery. I didn’t know David well, but the times I spent with him were delightful. At Ephraim Radner’s and my invitation David attended several theology pubs with our doctoral students, generously sharing his knowledge of Ivan Illich’s thought, his ideas on technology and medicine, and a lot more.
At the memorial service, I was chatting with one of David’s musician friends, and mentioned that I was an “Ivan Illich friend.” The man said to me: “Who’s Ivan Illich?” I find this rather wonderful—David moved in many worlds, not all of which were even aware of the others. Michael Sacasas has written movingly about David’s gift for friendship on _The Convivial Society_.
David was playing music with his bluegrass group when he died. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
