John F. Lad

Our quartet

A dozen years have passed but Johns presence is still felt. Although at rest he accompanies us on our journey to join him.

John -

Last year, on a day in early January, we sat together...as we had done so many times... and watched The NY Giants play their wildcard playoff game against the Eagles. The Giants played well in that game, but lost on a last-minute field goal. Little did I know that it would be the last time we would watch a football game together.

Yesterday, I watched the Giants play their wildcard game against the Titans. You weren't able to be here to watch it with me and to share in...

For many years, I admired John’s musicianship, and grew to value the seriousness and intensity of his commitment to whatever he was doing. In the course of his trying out instruments I had made, and his purchase of one of my violins in 1995, we became friends. He showed his commitment to friendship in being part of a concert in 2006 devoted to the instruments I had made. He played a Charles Ives sonata on his violin, Constance Cooper accompanying him on the piano. But in addition, he...

John and I were pretty good buddies at Case. We both ran track and cross-country together as well as joined the same fraternity. We also maintained a close personal relationship, such as studying together and so on. As the years wore on, we did become separated, however. At Case he was a bright and critical thinker, quite willing to inspect various ideas for their own merit, without being pretentious or obnoxious while doing so. A trait I thoroughly respected.

I first met John as a fellow freshman member of the Case Institute cross country team. We later joined the same fraternity and for our junior and senior years lived in the same quad of the fraternity house. All previous entries exactly describe the undergraduate math major who never showed anger, was always willing to tutor someone needing academic help, and absolutely exemplified a student dedicated to making the most of all academic opportunities.

I received word of John’s passing...

John and I met many years ago at several Ben Lo camps for T'ai Chi. We'd run into each other from time to time, and I always valued his energy as a fellow musician and T'ai Chi player. I know his death will touch many people's hearts...some who knew him well, and some, like me, who felt the goodness of his nature for only a brief time.

My heart goes out to you at this time and in the days ahead. John gave so much of himself to so many people. He was one of a kind. I felt very lucky to have known him.

John was one of the few people to really dig into t'ai chi's intellectual side. He wrote a number of thoughtful articles and reviews for Taijiquan Journal, and served on our advisory board, and also wrote for T'ai Chi Player in the 1980s. He was tremendously dedicated to Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing's ideals and loved to talk about the philosophical tradition behind t'ai chi.
John let me stay at his apartment last summer while he was in California for a music camp. Walking into his...