Peter had developed a massage technique where two people give a coordinated massage to a third. A group  would gather and Peter would provide us with a demonstration of the strokes. He also handed out an outline describing the strokes. We would break in groups of three. Two would give Peter's coordinated massage to the third. After completing all the strokes, the receiver would become one of the givers and the outline would be repeated. Then repeated  so that  all three had received a massage and given two. On April 19, 2026 a group of Peter's friends gathered to celebrate his life and practice the Four-handed massage technique that he had developed.

We all talked and shared memories of our very dear friend Peter Kirby. Al Zagofsky, read the poem he written to commemorate Peter. 

Four Hands, One Memory

About a year ago, like today,

I was invited by Carol-

an opening, a doorway-

into a room where strangers

Became something gentler

There were tables, quite laughter,

the soft percussion of hands

learning to listen.

and there was Peter.

not as an introduction,

but as a presence-

In the way people spoke his name

like a place they had walked,

a trail well-marked,

yet still unfolding.

He had walked far-

the long spine of the Appalachian Trail,

the patient climb of the Pacific Crest,

where earth and sky negotiate in silence.

he knew how to move

through wilderness-

and through people.

Hands that argued in court

for forest that could not speak

became hands that listened-

to muscle, to breath, the the small

hesitations - we carry without knowing.

Four hands, not to take, but to give.

A choreography of care,

sensual in the truest sense-

attention without demand,

presence without claim.

Between sessions, wine, stories,

opera drifting through conversation-

voices rising where words could not.

He gathered people

the way trails gather footsteps-

not to keep them,

but to let them pass through

changed.

Now the tables are set again.

The oils, the outlines, the quiet agreements of touch.

And before we begin,

we speak his name-

not as something lost,

but as something still moving

through us.

Four hands become many.

A room becomes a memory.

A memory becomes a way of being.

And in that shared silence-

he is here.

I was so sorry to hear about Peter's passing. He was such a multi-faceted person. With environmental advocacy as a reigning theme throughout his life.  Two encounters were with Peter are most memorable. First in 1976(or7) he visited us in San Antonio, TX after having hiked the Appalachian trail. This was the 1st I learned of the trail, I was in HS and was throughly impressed. Second was in PA. Peter joined us for dinner during 2004 presidential campaign.  Our daughter, Melissa (age 14 at the time), asked the question what is the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Peter answered, very matter of fact, Democrats are for environmental protections, Republicans are not.