Spenser SomersSpenser was born in Kansas City in 1972. He spent his childhood in Kansas along the shore of Lake Quivira and in the countryside of Ottawa. In the summer of 1984, Spenser’s family moved to Edina, Minnesota where he began the seventh grade.

The transition to a new school was made easier by Spenser’s athletic ability. The “new kid” became an all-star baseball player and a leading scorer on the traveling basketball team. His love of sports, quick wit and Kansas accent helped Spenser quickly make new friends.

The smooth transition lasted less than a year. In June 1985, Spenser was itching a mosquito bite on his stomach when he found a lump. He was diagnosed with Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET), a rare form of cancer. On July 1, Spenser’s spleen and part of his stomach were removed along with a malignant cancer tumor. It was the first of many surgeries, procedures and treatments he would endure over the next five years.

While the cancer slowly ate away at him physically, Spenser flourished mentally and spiritually. “Once you are at peace with God, peace with your fellow man comes, as well as peace with yourself,” he wrote.

Spenser confronted his disease just as he would a stranger on the street - with a smile and a sense of humor. When chemotherapy caused his hair to fall out, Spenser simply sang out loud and changed the lyrics of Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” to “Living with No Hair”.

In addition to his faith, writing became Spenser’s salvation. His thoughts poured into journals and notebooks and onto countless scraps of paper. He would often write late into the night, sometimes by candlelight, much to the annoyance of his dad who was worried he would burn the house down.

His humility and humanity endeared Spenser to everyone who met him. In his senior year at Edina High School Spenser was elected Homecoming King. He was selected as the Most Respected Person in the senior class and nominated to deliver a commencement speech at graduation. In his speech, Spenser used the analogy of life as a highway, and told the overflow crowd at Braemar Arena that, “Once we stop looking up the road for satisfaction, and start looking around for it, that’s when it’ll come.”

With his health deteriorating, Spenser began his first semester at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota in the fall of 1990. He immediately felt at home and at peace on campus. He admired Lake Sagatagan and prayed in the Abbey Church. But after the first week of class Spenser went home and wouldn’t return to campus.

Even though his stay at Saint John’s lasted only one week, Spenser’s appreciation of each day made his brief college experience one of the most fulfilling in his life. “It doesn’t matter if I have tomorrow because I’ve had today. That’s living, man.”

Two months later, on November 9, 1990, Spenser passed away. He was 18 years old.

Spenser taught and inspired those he knew and those who knew of him. His insight and wisdom lives on through his writings while his spirit endures in many memories.

As another writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once wrote, “It is not length of life, but depth of life.” The profound effect of Spenser’s life continues through the work of the foundation that bears his name.