An Explorer's View of Death

He was the first blogger I ever followed. I'd been looking for a blog to read, to enjoy, to get inspiration for life and writing from, and when I saw "An Explorer's View of Life" as Blogger's featured blog almost two years ago, I knew I'd found someone who was worth reading. Barry was funny and eloquent and humble and, as his title suggested, a wonderful explorer who saw life through a different point of view. His Friday Photo Shoot Outs were insightful and witty; his posts about his dog, Lindsay, carried almost as much life as the adventurous dog herself; and when he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in March of last year, he approached it with vigor, not fear.

He took his diagnosis as an invitation to a duel, not a death sentence. He fought the cancer with all the surgeries and radiation and chemo that the doctors had prescribed, but also with vitamins and meditation and tai chi and good humor. The duel between Barry and Cancer was an epic one, in which Cancer fought dirty and Barry retorted with a gentlemanly charm and honor that left Cancer looking like a petty fool, pathetic and lowly. "An Explorer's View of Life" began to take on Barry's new view of death as well--and it wasn't a fearful one. It was, in typical Barry style, nothing more or less than a new adventure.

So when I read the news of Barry's death this morning, I wasn't struck with an immediate sense of despair or hopelessness. Sadness, yes. Loss, certainly. But not bitterness at Cancer's supposed victory. I think his wife, Linda, put it best in her post announcing the news:

"Barry did not loose his battle with cancer today. The cancer is dead and gone forever now. Barry however, will always live on in our hearts.

I consider Barry a hero, not a person who has lost anything. "

Barry Edward Fraser

April 3, 1943 to July 20, 2010