ANH-USA General Counsel, Jonathan Emord, remembers the man with whom he worked for three decades to stem FDA tyranny against natural medicine, who passed away last Saturday.
By Jonathan Emord, Esq.
I had the great privilege of knowing Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, and of representing them, for the better part of thirty years. They were brilliant, passionate, and principled advocates of individual liberty who did more than voice opposition to government violations of rights, they fought the FDA in court and won in an unprecedented string of victories and against all odds. It was my great honor to be the legal tip of their constitutional spear.
Sandy passed away 3 years ago. Durk died this past Saturday. Each loss was profound for the country and yet escaped much public attention. Like giant timbers falling, their demise means the loss of much reasoned argument in defence of our liberties. Sandy was a brilliant nutrition scientist, a person with a powerful command of the English language, a great persuasive writer, and a force to be reckoned with in the face of injustice. She and Durk were honest to the core and held the highest standards for their many products, articles, books, and written opinions.
The two of them ushered in the nutrition revolution with their blockbuster New York Times best seller Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach. They appeared over 100 times on the Merv Griffin show, many times on the Johnny Carson Show, and repeatedly on other international, national, regional and local television and radio shows. They designed extraordinary nutritional formulas and broke down government barriers to nutrient disease information.
Durk was a renaissance man. He wrote screen plays for Clint Eastwood, including the script for The Dead Pool. He helped create the life support systems on the Gemini spacecraft. He helped come up with the calculus, vector calculus and differential equations used for the guidance systems in cruise missiles. He had dozens of patents. He bred crawfish to be the size of lobsters and sold them in roadside stands labeled “desert lobster.” He was a rancher. He had a voracious appetite for science and one of the most extensive science libraries in the world. He could build or repair everything from a rocket to a machine to sift gold particles from water exiting a mineral spring. His imagination, creative power and raw genius knew no limits. As an undergrad at MIT, he taught graduate level physics classes. He comprehended the intricacies of Einstein’s theory of relativity and was commissioned by Disney to explain the theory to laymen in a Disney movie. His brain was like an immense global encyclopedia. It was all but impossible to find a single subject on which Durk could not pass as an expert.
May Durk and Sandy rest in peace but may their intellectual legacy continue to make a stir and advance the cause of liberty generation after generation. They will be sorely missed.
Key lawsuits
The Alliance for Natural Health USA, then known as the American Preventive Medical Association, was a co-plaintiff on several precedent-setting lawsuits with Pearson, Shaw, and others. These lawsuits expanded the health claims that could be made about dietary supplements.
Pearson v. Shalala (“Pearson I”)
What a tremendous loss. He did a lot for everyone interested in good health.
cordially
Wow. Not only did I not know Durk passed, but I had no idea that Sandy had passed three years ago. I credit those two for opening my eyes to health science. Back in 1982, when friend gave me their first book to read, I carried that thing around like a bible, and read it multiple times. I am curious to what their age was, and what may of caused their death. I know they had their own particular health issues, but I am a bit surprised they could not get on top of their health issues, providing they did not die from an accident or some other means not preventable. After a while I did not follow all of their health advice, since some I thought was a bit extreme, but in a time when few people knew what anti-aging or life extension was, they positively affected people’s lives.
Looks like he was 81.
I am saddened to hear of Durk Pearson’s death. Durk Pearson, Sandy Shaw’s book Life extension was one of the first books I took seriously and trusted. Impressive couple, brilliant and inspiring. Such a loss for our world.
That is a loss.
He will be back
I met Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw in Orlando where they were appearing on a local news program. The station had invited a physician to argue with them. The physician lost. I read their first Life Extension book, and realized I might live to be a hundred. I decided to go to college. I graduated from medical school when I was forty years old. Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw had a profound effect on my life. I always hoped I would meet them again some day to thank them. I am sorry to learn they are gone.
Since 1991 I was privileged to have known Durk and Sandy, as nutritional scientists and also call them friends.
My husband and I began using their Designer Food formulas in 1991, eventually creating Life Priority with the support of Durk and Sandy preserving the Designer Food formulas. We had the privilege of interviewing Durk on his life and formulas July 8, 2024! Interviews will be on Life Priority YouTube .
Jonathan you wrote a wonderful memorial on Durk and Sandy-
Durk and Sandy lived life to the fullest!
Anyone who had the privilege to know Durk and Sandy have truly been blessed!
Michelle Pryor
Same here…Durk and Sandy ignited in myself the desire for better health and longevity. They provided the impetus to investigate various modalities which I did since about the early 80s.
Am now 74 and still clicking along fairly healthily. Am now using the Carnivore lifestyle to reduce my inflammation and as a preventative strategy to defeat any onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s and just feel better using the Carnivore lifestyle change which can be directly tied back to Durk and Sandy who started me on this journey.
Rest In Peace, Durk and Sandy, sleep in the stars
I was shocked to learn of their passing. Dark told me forty years ago that his parents died young and not repeating that was some of the motivation of his life extension work. He was a genius and personally very nice. Too bad the world didn’t get to know both of them better.
Durk & Sandy were the inspiration for us to start International Antiaging Systems back in the late 1980s, their libertarian mind set helped us see the freedom possibilities of the then new Internet, and opening up pathways to self improvement by following actual nutritional science not big pharma profit driven dictates. We attended the 1st ever Life Extension conference in Anahiem CA sometime in the late 1980s where they were the main attraction, those were heady days full of endless possibilities and young hearts yearned to explore, Durk & Sandy pulled back the curtains to show the great vast vistas open to creative imagination guided by honest science.
Durk was an outstanding accomplished individualist. I enjoyed his consulting on health and he gave his time freely. His passing is a great loss.
I had no idea either of them had passed They were a large part of supplement industry for so may years and with their innovative and brilliant scientific
discoveries and writings Im surprised they werent eulogized
sooner
I have awe and respect for them as i used and continue to use their supplement formulas Party on Durk and Sandy where ever you are