I am a third generation Art dealer in our family business which is now in its 4th generation with our sons.  I am also an author.  My first book was, "Collecting & Care Of Fine Art" (Crown, NY 1981) but it is my latest work, "Bader Field" which is a very emotional non-fiction family saga which is truly a journey of love, forgiveness & acceptance. 

I lived through the suicide of my brother when I was a teenager.  I bring to the table a non-clinical viewpoint of the horror that such a violent final act leaves on the surviving family members. My credentials lie in the fact that I am a veteran of an event so horrific that its imprint became part of my psyche. It forever remains with me as a badge of pain; a wound which heals but so far and then rips open with even a subtle reminder.  One never gets over it but rather only learns to live with it.

"Bader Field" (Nightengale Press, 2008), my latest book, began as homage to my father, my hero, Samuel David, the legendary art dealer whose life was cut short by a major coronary at the young age of 58.  As the book developed, a greater purpose emerged.  The fabric of our family was woven with the tragic loss of one of my older brothers to suicide.  Bruce, at the tender age of twenty-two took his own life leaving behind a trail of horror and devastation.  No note, no clues, completely shocking our idyllic 1960's American family with a permanently unresolved question as to why.  Although the reason matters not, for it wouldn't bring him back, it would perhaps have offered some insight and understanding, albeit little comprehension or solace.

I recognized my need to open a wide reaching dialogue, showing the realistic nightmare of suicide, having lived through it.  As a survivor, I am on a dedicated mission to lift the veil of shame that protects this violent act and lets it thrive.  Suicide is a leading killer of children and it needs to be stopped. Pre-teens, teens and young adults who are most vulnerable, need to know that if they are on that last edge of desperation, that there is help for them.  They are not alone, there is love and light and always a better way.  They do not come back. Taking one's life is a permanent solution to a temporary situation.  The wake of pain and suffering that it leaves upon family members and friends is something that needs to be seen and understood for perhaps that in itself might be a life saving measure.

Please visit my website for a more comprehensive overview of the book and its bigger purpose.

This is my way of paying it forward.  I am on a quest to reach out and make a difference, taking the darkest days of my life and turning them into a path of light with the hope of saving lives....even one.......

Thank you,

Carl David

215-735-2922

www.carledavid.com