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Making Medical History: The Life and Times of Henry E. Sigerist

1998; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 41; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/pbm.1998.0032

1529-8795

Ilza Veith,

Medical History and Innovations

one began to "My Almost Wif [sic]". He told her that he would spend only one more year in show business, but the career lasted substantially longer. And yes, Chicago, my home town, played a role in the story of Will Rogers. It was there at the Chicago World's Fair where in 1893 Will Rogers saw the famous Mexican roper, Vincente Oropeza, and vowed that some day he too would learn all these rope tricks which, of course, he did. There is a charming postcard showing Will Rogers, the Greatest Catch in Vaudeville, twirling his 90 foot both on the ground and on horseback. Courtship is a beautifully produced book. The designer of the book was Carol Haralson, who is now in Santa Fe, NM. Since she won the Cowboy Hall of Fame gold medal for the book design and also been awarded a "Bennie" [named for Benjamin Franklin] for the overall design and cover. Because letters were the foundation of the book, "mail" for the internal theme. Color postcards mark the sections in the opening. Postscripts and postcards, stamps and other items from Rogers ' correspondence tie the book together. All the items used on the cover of the "Courtship" book are in the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, OK. Ms. Haralson selected the items and arranged them on the floor in the Library at the Memorial. Photographer, Steve Fritz of Tulsa, climbed the winding stair and leaned over to make the unique photograph. I recommend both these books to anyone who is acquainted with Will Rogers and, more importantly, to those who are unacquainted with this great American. His wisdom remains contemporary. His letters are fascinating and provide new insight into this great man. As Mark Russell, host of PBS's "Mark Russell Comedy Specials" has written, Courtship is "A fresh look at the man who gets my write-in vote in any election year. I never had so much fun reading other people's mail!" These letters provide wonderful insight into his humor, his insecurities, and his ability to love and be loved. Perhaps these qualities are the reasons that he has been loved by almost everyone during his life and after his death up to the present. Reba Collins has put together two wonderful books. If you cannot find them at your bookstore, write Reba Collins at PO Box 2633, Edmond, OK, 73083, or send her an e-mail at rebabill@aol.com. She will even autograph the books for you. Morton F. Arnsdorf, M.D. University of Chicago Making Medical History: The Life and Times of Henry E. Sigerist. Edited by Elizabeth Fee and Theodore M. Brown. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Pp. 387, illus., index. To publish a biography of Henry E. Sigerist is an act of great courage which has been carried out most successfully by the two editors Professors Elizabeth Fee and Theodore M. Brown. In this undertaking the editors were aided by a number of collaborators, most ofwhom knew Sigerist personally and well. In fact, so impressive a man was Sigerist that a single meeting with him created such a lasting impression that it seemed that Sigerist was able to endow his conversational partners with his own unfailing memory. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 41, 3 ¦ Spring 1998 459 As an example we must quote Sigerist's short lecture visit in Honolulu where the members of the local medical community were in the process of founding a Society of Medical History and where Sigerist's one colorful and stimulating contact with the physicians was so impressive that years afterward the medical audience was still able to quote verbatim nearly the entire lecture. Sigerist's unfailing memory found expression also in his ability to cope with all the languages he met with in his career, among them Russian, which be spoke fluently as a result of his intense interest in the medical system of the TJnion of Soviet Socialist Republics. The description of the life and times of Henry Sigerist is enriched by the fact that the book is divided into four chapters, each written by a different author. These again are subdivided so skillfully into sections that the...