Douglas Penick writes:
Late last night [September 30, 2025], in the company of his wife and friends, Kidder Smith died in Hot Springs, North Carolina. He was an extraordinary being and great translator, a student of among others, Y.K. Kao, Peter Boodberg, Chogyam Trugpa Rinpoche, and Kenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso,Rinpoche. He was the director of of the Asian Studies program at Bowdoin College, senior translator of SUN TZU: The Art of War (Shamhala Publications), HAVING ONCE PAUSED, Poetry of Zen Master Ikkyu (Michigan, UP), LI BO UNEMPT (Punctum Books), and ABRUPTLY DOGEN (Punctum Books). All are wonderful books in very different ways, and convey aspects of his fearless curiosity, unique understanding, and unstinting generosity.
We’ve been friends since we were sixteen and avid correspondents of 25 years. How much of what I’ve written followed paths to which he pointed. Here’s a part of a Li Bo poem he’s left us.
Now drinking’s done.
Every body goes its own way.Bound together,
We roam all time without regard.And some time in some Milky Way
We meet.
Tributes
Your spontaneous whirling dervish dance
in the corridor outside the main shrine room
twirling to the pulsating tropes
of the Great Blood-Drinker's freshly composed Vajrayogini Sadhana
dripping with undying passionate fervour:
a teaching of spontaneous, ever-youthful, self-liberating ecstasy
which got you into and out of so many troubles
in this our delightfully entangling world.
This realm has lost a precious Dharma Gem
doubtless adorning wherever its presence now graces.
Say Hello to Johnny for me!
