Peter Frost 1939-2004

Peter Frost 1939-2004, teacher, friend and my father in law.

My father-in-law passed away early this morning after a battle with melanoma. It’s very hard right now to write about him as I risk getting a shock from the tears falling on my keyboard.

You may have known or heard of him through his professional work and exceptional teaching at the University of British Columbia in the Sauder School of Business. Most recently he had devoted his professional life to the development of the idea of toxin handlers in organizations. He was immensely proud of the book he wrote last year, Toxic Emotions At Work, which was inspired in large part by his experiences dealing with cancer seven years ago, when his melanoma returned for the first time. During his healing he saw how important compassionate acts were in the life of people in pain. He began investigating compassion in organizations and, along with a number of colleagues at CompassionLab, produced some remarkable work.

At that time, surgery removed the cancer from his lymph nodes and we were blessed with seven more years with him, during which he got to know his four grandkids. In August he received test results that confirmed that his cancer had returned, and early this morning, he lost the fight.

We have lost a remarkable man, and such a generous friend, father and grandfather for my kids. I’ll write more about Pete later. Light blogging ahead for now.