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Authored seminal texts on applied kinesiology.
Dr. David Walther, a 1959 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and one of the most prolific writer-researchers in the chiropractic profession, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sept. 10, 2008. With Jeanne, his beloved wife and publishing partner for 44 years, Dr. Walther's writings and teachings about applied kinesiology (AK) crossed the globe, influencing thousands of DCs.
His father and mother (Norman and Rose Walther) were both chiropractors who met and married at Palmer in 1926. David graduated in 1959 at the end of B.J. Palmer's career there, and was the chairman of the Delta Sigma Chi fraternity.
Shortly after starting practice with his father in Pueblo, Colo., Dr. Walther chaired the education committee of the Colorado Chiropractic Association (CCA). It was during this period that he first invited Dr. George J. Goodheart Jr. to lecture on the topic of manual muscle testing and grew fascinated with the increased possibilities for chiropractic diagnosis using Goodheart's methods.
Prior to teaching AK, Walther was active in the two Colorado chiropractic organizations, and from his second year in practice served on the board of directors or as an officer of one of them. From 1970-1971, Walther and a handful of his colleagues worked to get the two organizations (one a mixer, the other straight) to form a unified group. One of the things of which he was most proud was his selection as the first president of the combined organization, which is now the CCA. He received the CCA Outstanding Service Award in 1967 and 1976, and the Chiropractor of the Year Award in 1973.
In 1976, Dr. Walther resigned from all management activities with the CCA to devote more time to developing educational materials on AK. He became an avid practitioner of AK and a philosopher, researcher, encyclopedist and educator of its possibilities for patient health care. His chiropractic library was one of the largest in the world in private hands.
The first text Dr. Walther wrote on AK, Applied Kinesiology - The Advanced Approach in Chiropractic, was published in 1976, and all certified teachers of...