Spotlight: David Perry, Esq. of the KCA’s Board of Directors

David Perry Esq. is a member of the KCA’s Board of Directors and is currently retired.

We spoke with David about what motivated him to join our Board of Directors. 

What motivated you to get involved with the Kidney Cancer Association? 

I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1995 at age 45. Through my involvement with UC Irvine, I was encouraged to reach out to Gene Schoenfeld, who had recently founded the Kidney Cancer Association.  We worked together on a couple of matters, became friends, and thus began my interest in the KCA.
 
How long have you worked with the KCA? 
I first began working with Gene Schoenfeld and the KCA around 1996, and was asked to join the board around 2001-2002.
 
What is your favorite travel destination and why? 
Historically, our favorite travel destination has been Fiji. We initially visited Fiji in 1987 when a client organized a trip to the Turtle Island Resort for my wife and me to make amends for keeping me away from my family on Christmas Eve. We met a very witty Fijian chap named Martin Livingston who became a dear friend. Martin later developed a small resort on Vatulele Island. My wife and I celebrated our 40^th birthdays as the resort’s first guest and struck up what became a long-term friendship with an Australian couple. Vatulele became our collective annual vacation trek/reunion until the resort was sold and Martin moved on. A few years ago, we (joined by our Australian friends) again celebrated our birthdays with Martin in Fiji on an island/working ranch he manages.
 
What do you like to do in your free time? 
I retired from my law practice in June 2018. In addition to serving on the KCA’s board of directors, I sit on the board of other non-profits such as the Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach, which produces a summer art festival and unique nightly presentation of “tableau” art, Glennwood Housing Foundation which operates a residential facility in Laguna Beach home to about 45 “disabled” young adults, and the Pacific Art Foundation. I also continue involvement with UC Irvine’s Chief Executive Roundtable, as well as its School of Biological Sciences. So essentially, I do all the same stuff I did before retirement, but no longer get paid.
 
What is one thing most people do not know about you? 
That I’ve recently become interested in the challenges presented by the prospect of integrating Eastern and Western medical practices.