Julian Graham Lindsay-Kaufman

Julian Lindsay-Kaufman died by suicide on November 2, 2025. He took an overdose of fentanyl to end the mental anguish that he had endured and struggled against for years, made worse by dismay at the state of the United States and the world. He was twenty-six years old.

Julian lived most of his life in Chapel Hill, NC, where he attended Estes Hills Elementary, Phillips Middle, and East Chapel Hill High schools. He played ultimate frisbee, drums in the school jazz and marching bands, and plenty of computer games. He also was a reader, deeply introspective and curious. He loved to try exotic foods (including scorpions!). He adored our family’s dogs.

When Julian enrolled at the University of Miami in 2017, it was originally as an English major, though he later switched to business. He took Spanish classes and spent a semester abroad in Argentina. Covid descended on the world toward the end of his junior year, and he moved home. Over the next year, he took classes remotely, graduating in 2021.

With several seemingly different interests—finance, writing, education, philosophy, music, and increasingly, information technology—Julian’s career path was not neatly laid out for him. He had some success, but too much stress, as an independent stock trader. He worked as a counselor at an afterschool arts camp and, later, tutored kids in computer programming. For nearly a year, he was the business manager for UNC’s program in Global Studies. Then he retrained himself as a computer coder and web designer, studying independently and diligently, and earning a number of IT certifications. His last employment was as a systems analyst at WingSwept.

Julian wanted to contribute something meaningful to the world. Through reading memoirs or following podcasts, he learned about people he found inspiring, and he hoped to both follow their examples and help others. He spent hundreds of hours designing a website intended to serve as an online community where users could share curated resources unlikely to rise to the top of a google search. (It is currently decommissioned but hopefully will be back.) One of his last requests was for people to “spread courage and love wherever you go. We all could use some more of it.”

As an introvert, Julian was uncomfortable in large groups; but his friendships were close and deep. Joining his friends in remembering him are his sister and step-sister, Amelia Lindsay-Kaufman and Ellie Andrews; his parents and step-parents Lisa Lindsay, Matt Andrews, Jay Kaufman, and Isabelle Petit; half-brothers Sol and Louis Petit Kaufman; grandparents in Baton Rouge and Buffalo; aunts, uncles, and cousins around the US; and more well-wishers than he could have imagined. Those who knew him well will gather for a memorial service in the woods (weather permitting) on November 23, 2025.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making donations, as Julian suggested, “toward alleviating suffering, in animals and innocent people.”