In memoriam Kerry Ridgway and Richard Tan

Our acupuncture world has lost two of its 'Greats'.

Vale Kerry Ridgway

Hello,

Not sure how many of you knew this so I’ve included you in on this email, but today we lost Kerry Ridgway.  He was an innovator, educator and good friend to many of us – he will be missed.

Kevin May 04/01/16

Kerry was an amazing man, a great thinker. Those of us who were lucky to learn from him will be saddened by his passing.

Vale Dr Richard Teh-Fu Tan

AVAG would like to pass on an email received this week regarding the passing of Dr Tan, of the Balance Method fame. 

'It deeply saddens us to announce the passing of Dr. Richard Teh-Fu Tan.

Dr. Tan touched the lives of countless people in immeasurable ways. He was beloved by thousands of people across the globe for his wisdom, inspiration, humor and compassion. He tirelessly shared his teachings with innumerable practitioners for three decades.

Dr. Tan’s wish is that the Balance Method lives on well beyond his death. It was his passion to spread his knowledge of Chinese Medicine to as many practitioners as possible. He has delegated his most experienced apprentices, Dr. Delphine Armand and Ms. Eileen Han, to continue to impart his teachings to the acupuncture community. At his request, they will teach his planned courses in 2016 and beyond. Those who knew him well can picture him shouting: “The show must go on!” Furthermore, he asks all practitioners to apply his valuable teachings each day while practicing the art of acupuncture in clinical practice. In this way, we will keep his spirit alive with each patient that we treat.

We know that many people will be shocked at this news and will be hoping to find answers and more information. However, we ask that you respect Dr. Tan’s family, friends, apprentices and office team by not emailing or calling us with questions about Dr. Tan’s illness and death. In our grief, we are unable to share more details or respond directly. Also, Dr. Tan requested that the main topics of future conversations in the acupuncture community (on websites, Facebook, forums, etc.) be focused on the medicine. Please honor his wishes by discussing his life and teachings rather than his death and passing.

Thank you for your love and support. May we all bring Dr. Tan’s laughter and joy into the world.

If you want to pay tribute to our dear teacher and friend, please add your message to his online memorial page.

We thank you for not directly replying to this message.'