Alex Shigo anniversary

[KTSmith]

Just a little reminder that this is the anniversary of Dr. Shigo's accidental death in 2006 in Barrington, NH. After careers as a musician and a US Forest Service researcher, he became an entrepeneurial author and book publisher from about 1986 forward. His landmark works A New Tree Biology and Modern Arboriculture continue to be relevant and, in places, revolutionary.
The reaction by some arborists (and scientists) to his life and teaching through the years went from "This is preposterous" in the beginning to "We've always known that" towards the end. To me, he was always moving ahead. The form of my own career was largely shaped in his wake. I'm sure others would make that claim as well.

 

[Treezybreez]

You know, I never did hear how he died.

His work was and is the foundation for modern arboriculture.

 

[TreeCo]

Alex was a tremendous influence!

I believe he was injured in a fall while walking and died.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I had the good fortune to take a week long class of his. That was the biggest game changer in my development as an Arborist

Thanks Alex!

 

[KTSmith]

As for cause of death, no need for it to be a mystery. He slipped and fell at his summer lake home (about 20 minutes from his "regular" home in Durham, NH). His lakeside "cottage" was indeed that, a seasonal residence cobbled together. His summer home office was essentially a walk-out into daylight basement fitted with a sliding glass door. To enter it, one had to go outside from the front of the house and down a wooden stairway. Well, given the season and place, the wooden stairs and wet leaves were too much and he fell, breaking his neck.
For the last 10 years of his teaching, I helped some with classroom management, particularly on the microscope sessions. Then, it felt as if it we would always be doing classroom and field sessions. Of course, life moves on in new ways and forms!

 

[oldoakman]

I am honored to have known him as well. I wish I could have taken his week long class. It was next on my list at the time of his passing. If only the younger arborists could grasp the deeper meaning of his thoughts that he expressed in his presentations...it frustrates me sometimes. RIP Alex Shigo.

 

[TreeCo]

I had the good fortune to take a week long class of his. That was the biggest game changer in my development as an Arborist

Thanks Alex!

I also took a week long class somewhere in New England in the early nineties.