Scott Campbell Davis

Graduated from Bellevue High School, Class of ’66; Stanford University, Class of ’70 in English, honors program.

In youth and as a young adult Scott loved rock climbing and mountaineering and became an expert, climbing various unclimbed routes in the Cascades. He made notable ascents in the European Alps, and a historic first ascent on a new route up El Capitan in Yosemite, the “Heart Route” in 1970.

Photography was a strong interest for Scott, from earning money for college by shooting for photo commissions, to recent photo tours of Vietnam.

As a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, he became a social worker in Richmond, Virginia and continued in social work at Skid Road Community Council in Seattle in the early 1970’s.

Subsequently, he became a carpenter and established the Scott Davis Company, later becoming Kinesis Construction, Inc. doing high quality custom residential remodel and new construction. He loved teaching carpentry to new employees, and helped launch four carpenters into their own general contracting careers.

At the same time, he pursued a parallel interest in writing and publishing. He wrote and had published by the University of Kentucky Press, The World of Patience Gromes, based on his experience as a social worker in Fulton, Virginia, a community within Richmond. This book won the Washington State Governor’s Book Award, and was reviewed in The Wall Street Journal and The Christian Science Monitor.

In the mid-1990’s he established Cune Press, a small publishing company producing books initially centered on the Middle East. Among them was his own second book, The Road from Damascus. As the press evolved, other genres including history, novels, poetry, political cartoons, and education were included. He mentored and promoted numerous authors in the US and the Middle East.

His keen interest in the Middle East took him multiple times to Syria where he established contacts for both publishing and printing books in English and Arabic. Prompted by his deep love and interest he led two tours to Syria in the early 2000’s.

Scott was a life-long Christian Scientist, participating actively in his church, three times holding roles to help conduct church services, teaching Sunday School and contributing to his church through his business and construction acumen.

He is survived by his wife of forty-three years, Mary M. Davis, his brother Peter Davis and his daughters Kaia Crowe and Osta Davis, his sister, Isobel Davis and her daughters, Karlin and Olivia Krishnaswami, and his uncle, Hugh W. Hudson of Watsonville, California.

He will always be remembered for his humor, passion for his projects, empathy, loyalty, as well as works in the world of construction, publishing and writing. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and church community.

Those wishing to honor his memory with a gift may contribute to one (or more) of the three charities listed in the Donations section below.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the Davis family.