Letter: Sweet farewell to Buzzy Tischler

I moved to Woodstock in the early Seventies, and in the late Seventies I started going to Buzzy Tischler, one of the local dentists in town. Buzzy was unique as a dentist, always hugging me before and after he worked on my teeth, and appearing to be really interested in me as a person. 

As years passed, I found myself actually looking forward to having my teeth worked on, clearly because of getting another chance to spend some time with Buzzy. He was great, and our relationship grew closer.

In the early Eighties, Buzzy started loaning me tapes of the guru, Rajneesh and he’d tell me stories of times when he went to Pune, India to meet the Guru. Rajneesh, later known as OshO, turned out to be my first Guru-like teacher from the East. I loved receiving those tapes from Buzzy. They helped me grow more conscious about the world.

In the Nineties, I had a local TV show on the Woodstock station where I would interview local Woodstockers who were quietly having a positive effect on the town. I interviewed wonderful people like Sophie Fenton, a well-known ceramicist, and a well-loved chiropractor, Allan Sachs, old Woodstockers who have since passed on. 

I got to interview Buzzy for one of the shows, and it was really fun. He was a little shy to be on TV, but I got my chance to thank him publicly for all the years of helping so many Woodstockers. At that time I knew tons of locals who just loved Buzzy and thought the world of him.

Years passed, and I moved to Florida for ten years. But when I came back, Buzzy was still going strong, helping people with his dentistry skills, as well as passing along the latest new healing ideas. He just loved the chance to help people. He was truly a healer and a wonderful man.

Buzzy retired from dentistry a few years ago, and last week I sadly heard of his passing. He was 87 years old and no spring chicken. But still. his death stunned me. A flood of memories came up for me, as tears ran down my cheeks. 

He was a good man, and I loved him. I smile when I think of most memories of Buzzy, except for two unfulfilled wishes. I wished that Buzzy would have had a big celebration party when he retired, so hundreds of local Woodstockers could have turned out to thank him for the decades of service he provided. It would have been a very sweet celebration. The other wish is that I had one more chance to give him one last big hug. Good-bye, Buzzy. We’ll miss you. 

Marty Klein
Woodstock