February 25, 2026
Remembering David Reich Chadwick

David Reich Chadwick
February 9, 1945 – February 23, 2026

 

David Chadwick, Soto Zen priest, author, archivist, and one of the earliest disciples of Shunryu Suzuki, died on February 23, 2026 in Bali, Indonesia, where he had lived for the past thirteen years with his wife, Katrinka McKay. He was born on February 9, 1945 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Chadwick began practicing at San Francisco Zen Center in October 1966, at age twenty-one, after early involvement in civil rights work, left-wing student movements, and extended travel in Mexico and Latin America. In 1971, shortly before Suzuki Roshi’s death, he was ordained as a Soto Zen priest.

He was present at the founding and early development of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the first Soto Zen training monastery established outside Asia open to the public. During the formative decades of San Francisco Zen Center’s growth, he contributed to the development of its temples and enterprises, including Tassajara’s monastic and summer guest seasons, City Center on Page Street, Green Gulch Farm, and related community initiatives.

For more than fifty years, Chadwick dedicated himself to preserving and transmitting the life and teachings of Suzuki Roshi. His biography, Crooked Cucumber, remains the definitive account of Suzuki Roshi’s life and teaching and a foundational text for generations of practitioners in the Suzuki lineage. He also authored Thank You and OK!: An American Zen Failure in Japan (1994), chronicling his years living and practicing Zen in Japan from 1988 to 1992, his recent publication Tassajara Stories, as well as many other books, essays, songs, and oral histories.

Chadwick was the principal architect of the digital preservation of Suzuki Roshi’s legacy. Through Cuke.com and its affiliated archival sites, including extensive lecture transcripts, audio recordings, photographs, and historical materials, he created the central repository for the early history of San Francisco Zen Center and the living record of Suzuki Roshi’s teachings. He worked for decades with volunteers to collect, edit, digitize, and freely share these materials, ensuring that the voice and presence of his teacher would remain accessible worldwide.

His life reflected the currents of his generation: civil rights activism, antiwar and environmental work, participation in the 1980 Nuclear Freeze movement, and service in public initiatives including Governor Jerry Brown’s California Conservation Corps. Alongside his writing and archival work, he composed and recorded numerous songs.

After many decades in Northern California, in 2013 he moved to Bali with his fourth wife, Katrinka McKay, where he continued his writing, archival work, music, and prolific blog.

He is survived by his wife Katrinka McKay; by two sons from previous marriages, Kelly and Clay; and by generations of Zen students in the Suzuki Roshi lineage whose understanding of their teacher and tradition has been shaped by his devotion, memory, and care.

David Chadwick’s life was inseparable from the unfolding of Soto Zen in the West. Through his practice, writing, and preservation work, he served not only as a disciple of Suzuki Roshi, but as the primary historian of that transmission. His work stands as a record of gratitude and fidelity: to his teacher, to his community, and to the Dharma.