David Kaczynski

David Kaczynski is the brother of Theodore Kaczynski—the so-called “Unabomber”—who was arrested in 1996 after David and his wife Linda approached the FBI with their suspicions that Theodore might be involved in a series of bombings that caused three deaths and numerous injuries over 17 years. Despite his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, Theodore was charged capitally and only avoided the death penalty after his family waged a two-year campaign to convince the US Justice Department that Theodore’s delusions had precipitated his violent behavior.

David lectures frequently on issues related to mental illness and has presented to the American Association of State Forensic Directors, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the New York State District Attorney’s Association, the National CIT Conference, and the National Association of Social Workers, among other audiences.

David is the past executive director of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, a Buddhist monastery in Woodstock, New York. He previously served as executive director of New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and as assistant director of the Equinox Shelter for runaway and homeless youth. Through his life and his work, David has sought solutions to human problems through understanding and compassion as opposed to violence and coercion.

David is the author of the memoir Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomber and His Family and the poetry chapbook A Dream Named You.