Deceased May 12, 2021
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In Memory
Spencer left us on May 12, 2021. His full given name was Herbert Spencer, evoking the English polymath who coined the phrase “survival of the fittest” that undergirded Social Darwinism. By contrast to his namesake, our Spencer devoted his life to helping vulnerable individuals survive and prosper.
At Amherst, Spencer played trumpet, wrestled at 137 and 147 pounds, joined Phi Alpha Psi and was elected to Sphinx and Scarab. Senior year, when he and I were advisors in Stearns freshman dorm, persuaded me that there was no better listener among us. After graduation, Spencer earned an M.D. at Cornell (1963), interned in internal medicine in New York City and held psychiatric residencies in Boston. In 1967, he volunteered to serve with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, where he was stationed near Saigon and earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service.
Based near San Francisco in 1970, Spencer’s clinical, instructional and scholarly activity focused on adolescent psychopathology. He mistrusted biomedical approaches and reliance on pharmaceuticals, and his therapy with young patients often extended over long periods. Spencer conveyed his skepticism of standard treatment models in two books (1995 and 2015). In an interview, he described his approach as “an ego-oriented maturation model” that emphasized the strivings of young persons to mature, their need for parental support and their wish to retain a positive relationship with their parents. This focus, he acknowledged, diverged from the usual emphasis on adolescent self-centeredness and rebellion.
In his last decade, Spencer lived with multiple myeloma and, in his final years, was the primary caretaker for his ailing wife. She survives him, along with three children and six grandchildren.
Old friend, I still see you crouching on the mat, still hear your mellifluous horn.
John Dower ’59
