In Memoriam
Dr. Abram Hoffer
1917-2009

I first met Dr. Hoffer in the mid 1960's at a lecture on psychedelics at the University of Montana...to say meet at that time is a slight overstatement…it was a very small group of students and so, quite intimate…so it was as if we actually met. I learned a bit about how B vitamins could be very helpful in working with young people who would get lost on psychedelic journeys and who could be assisted in reestablishing stasis with these vitamins.

I had no idea at that time that here was a man whose path I would cross countless times in the country and subsequent life path I would choose. In 1980 I commenced my career selling vitamins in Canada. At that time the company I was with was almost completely orientated to the professional market of doctors and pharmacies and we not only did some direct work with Dr. Hoffer supplying high potency pure vitamins; specifically niacin; we also attended the schizophrenic conferences that Dr. Hoffer’s Canadian Schizophrenic Foundation held every year as an exhibitor.

Through these events I was afforded the opportunity to meet Linus Pauling on a number of occasions, as well as another pioneer medical doctor in the U.S. by the name of Dr. Robert Cathcart. Meeting these people and listening to their discussions on the use of vitamins and nutritional supplements as adjuncts in the truly wholistic approach to human health have been a great benefit to me in my career.

I do not mourn Dr. Hoffer’s passing so much as celebrate the life of a man who never took the easier path, who did not simply practice medicine so much as fought vigorously to expand the practice to include nutrients and a man whose legacy has left a mark on us all. Thank you Dr. Hoffer.