David Wilkinson

David Wilkinson Born in San Francisco, October 20, 1947. Passed away April 8, 2008. David battled a long term illness, poverty, and the general tyranny of a collapsing medical system. As a street musician and artist in San Francisco, David befriended those who were left behind. Discovering sobriety in 1988, he challenged the indifference America's political leaders bestowed on the poor, minorities, veterans, and the disabled. He aligned himself with non-profits that provided employment, job training, legal representation, and needed medical services. His last political action was to implement his living will, which allowed him to die in peace and dignity at California Pacific Medical Center's Davies Hospital. David believed that while the majority of Americans suffer the injustice of a systematic denial of affordable health care, the majority of the world's citizens suffer health care neglect on a genocidal scale. Long before becoming a valued volunteer with the Institute of International Education, David had written grants and programs involving accessible health care, journalistic freedom and protection, and disability rights protection. Known as an avid Bay Area sports fan, he was also a quiet hero for the defense of animals. The Bay Area community will be missing a defender of human and animal rights as well as a passionate advocate of music and art as the cornerstone of protected free speech. David's friends and his surviving brother John Wilkinson would appreciate it if you would remember David by giving any donations to the following Animal Rights organizations: Animal Place, 3348 Laguna Creek Trail, Vacaville, CA 95688; or Redwings Horse Sanctuary, P.O. Box 58, Lockwood, CA 93932.