May 11, 2014
John Howard Milde died in Costa Rica May 11, 2014 of a sudden heart attack. He was 73.
His father, an Oregon fisherman, died suddenly of a heart attack in his 40s when John was a student at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he was a double-major in art history and Latin. His parents were immigrants; his father from Norway, his schoolteacher mother from Russia. To their credit, they accepted their only child's individuality, his being gay, and his love of horticulture. With his genes in mind, evidently, John chose to be a lifelong vegan. John had lived in San Francisco and Berkeley but moved to Costa Rica for the tropical flora and the cheaper rent. He was Jewish but not religious.
Genetics do not have to be the only determinant of who you become. A healthy lifestyle can supersede genetics. Good news that.