1 comments about The DAMNDEST RADICAL: The Life and World of Ben Reitman, Chicago's Celebrated Social Reformer, Hobo King, and Whorehouse Physician.

1. Ben Reitman was a hobo, medical doctor, anarchist, and social reformer of the early 20th century. This book reveals his world, a world that most history books tend to ignore- the world of the hobos and political radicals (they were often one and the same) of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is the world of "Hobohemia." Much of this world centered around old time Chicago (the winter quarters for most hobos) and such institutions as the Hobo College, the Dill Pickle Club, and Bughouse Square. I know that one doesn't think of hobos discussing politics, economics, literature, and the arts, but that was a large part of their world. In many ways it reminds one of the world of the Beats during the 1950's- Jack Kerouac would have fit right in. In fact, considering the surprising prevalence of jazz,"free love" and recreational drugs, it uncannily prefigured the Beat scene.

   The people that Reitman knew makes an impressive list: Emma Goldman, Jack Reed, Walter Lippman, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, General Jacob Coxey, James Eads How (the "millionaire hobo") and Al Capone. The description of the many, now unknown, hobo philosophers is even more remarkable, for these were very remarkable men. These were free thinkers and intelligent and sensitive critics of the society around them. As for Reitman himself, I not only feel that I know him from reading this book, but I admire him and regret never actually meeting him.

   Oh yes, while most of the men covered in this book were labeled as "radicals" by the authorities of their time, all they really wanted was to improve life for the average working man (the hobo was essentially a migrant worker) and make society a little fairer. For this they were persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, and often murdered. Some things never change....

No comments about 25 Months: A Memoir.

No comments about Red Shadow: A Physician's Memoir of the Soviet Occupation of Eastern Poland, 1944-1956.

3 comments about The Real Tom Jones: Handicapped? Not Me.

1. Tom Jones worked high-profile and high-pressure broadcasting and public relations jobs from college until retirement, loves his wife of 40-plus years (and loves sports almost as much as he loves his wife), makes friends at the drop of a hat, fished from Florida to the Arctic Circle, traveled overseas, is an enthusiastic volunteer worker and is walking his fourth dog. All while in a wheelchair. Tom was shot accidentally when he was 6 years old. His wife, Louise, has been in a wheelchair since she was stricken by polio at 18. They have lived in their own home since their wedding. How did Tom do it? He gives the details in his autobiography. He also provides sage advice for other people with disabilities, for their care-givers and for those who care about them.



2. Here's a man who worked from early college days through retirement, has been married to the same wife since graduation, has always lived with her in their own home, does a great deal of volunteer work, has a multitude of friends, fishes from Florida to the Arctic Circle, travels overseas, walks his dog. Tom Jones has fit more into his life than most of us -- especially since he has worked and played in a wheelchair since childhood. His wife, Louise, has used a wheelchair since her teens. In his vivid autobiography, Tom also provides important advice for other people with disabilities and the people who know them.



3. HANDICAPPED OR ABLE BODDIED, THIS IS A MUST READ! At age six Tom's life on legs ended with a bullet to the back. An adventure on wheels began. An adventure that is still unfolding. If you want to learn for yourself how to turn a bite in the butt into your own adventure, this is the book to read.

   Most of us probably do not have the inner strength to rise above the life trials that Tom faced as 6 year old paraplegic and to this day. I don't know if I would have. However, after reading Tom's account of triumph over the odds, I believe he has given us all an insight into how to face the trials of our own lives and conquer them.

   For the last 37 of my 46 years, I have had the privilege of calling Tom Jones my friend, no, more than that, family. I never knew all the details of how he landed in his wheelchair. All I knew is he was a constant strength that rolled into my life and I could rely him. Some 23 years ago my own life was tested by fire. Tom and his wife Louise were there to share the encouragement that I would need to make it through. On one of my deepest days of despair, Tom rolled into my room, took me by the arm and told me not to give up, he would always be there for me. He always has.

   Reading Tom's book, I understand now how he became the strength that I and many others have come to appreciate. Hurdles in life are meant to be taken in stride, not become impassible obstacles. And Tom's life continues to show just that.

   This is a quick and easy read. One that will challenge your life and the way you confront the trials that you will come your way.

No comments about Emil Von Behring: Infectious Disease, Immunology, Serum Therapy (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society) (Memoirs of the American Philosophical ... of the American Philosophical Society).

No comments about Dictionary of Medical Biography [Five Volumes].

5 comments about The Awakening of a Surgeon.

1. I expected The Awakening of a Surgeon: A Family Guide to Preventing Sports Injuries and Death by Dr. David H. Janda to be technical, dry and boring. Well, was I surprised to find it engaging, very readable but also, very alarming.
   
   While doing his residency in orthopedic surgery, Dr. Janda discovered that the majority of baseball and softball injuries came about by players sliding into bases. Most of these injuries were caused by stationary bases. He researched various breakaway bases, and found a set that he thought would prove to be much safer. He convinced the University of Michigan to replace six of their fields with stationary bases, and the other six with the new breakaway bases. He had a group of volunteers record the injuries due to sliding over a two year period. At the end, the results were amazing! Injuries were reduced by 96% and cost of treatment reduced 99% with the breakaway bases. This helped lead to his founding The Institute for Preventative Sports Medicine. It is one of the very few independent research groups that focus solely on prevention and is not funded by sporting good companies.
   
   What I find alarming is Janda's conviction that nobody is much interested in preventing sports injuries--from sporting good companies to insurance companies to schools and communities. Surprisingly, most baseball and softball leagues (from professions to amateurs) refused to start using the breakaway bases despite Janda's research. Many times there's a conflict of interest. "The National Operating Committee for the Safety in Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), [is] an organization funded by the sporting goods manufacturers." Of course they're not going to rule against equipment manufactured by their sponsors. Janda ponders that unsafe and defective automobiles are required to be recalled, but "Why aren't sporting goods manufactures subject to the same standards?"
   
   Janda also provides lots of autobiographical information about his childhood, his schooling, his family, and how he became interested in medicine. He also spends much time discussing his efforts in the area of prevention. There are also a number of appendices at the end that are helpful to parents by covering such topics as Preventing Soccer Injuries, Playground Safety, Dehydration, Swimming and Water Safety, Preventing Baseball and Softball Injuries, and a Prevention Checklist--just to name a few.
   
   As a physical education teacher of 31 years and someone who coached varsity sports for 24 of those years, I can't recommend The Awakening of a Surgeon enough.



2. What a GREAT read! I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Janda's book. It was informative, thoughtfully written, and contained just the right amount of humor. Dr. Janda is a person of integrity who genuinely cares about his patients and has an interest in preventing people involved in sports from becoming his patients. This is a very good book for individuals who want to prevent injuries for their children.



3. Dr Janda performed surgery on my should a couple of years ago. He's an incredibly talented and caring individual who's extremely passionate about helping others by preventing sports injuries. His book is easy to read, incredibly interesting and insightful into big issues in health care, and is 100% from the heart.

   The story of Roger Hall (inventor of the Lego type breakaway baseball / softball base) is amazing for both his challenges and persistence. Roger lost a friend after a freak sliding injury resulted in death (due to complications). Roger spent the next eight years working to create a breakaway base that would reduce the chance of injury. When he finally had a working design, he found he could not manufacture and market the base himself. He teamed up with a manufactuer who then did not promote the product. He then broke ties with this manufacturer and tried to have the bases made overseas, but the original manufacturer blocked the tooling to create the bases. The book dives into the reasons why a major sports equipment maker would neglect to produce a safer baseball base, why the insurance industry doesn't get involved to reduce its medical expenses, and why professional and college teams do not demand safer equipment. The story is incredibly interesting!




4. This is an essential book for parents and weekend sportsmen, an inspirational book for anyone who has ever believed in or fought for a cause, and a good story for just about everybody. It is also a good mystery: why haven't the recommendations of Dr. Janda and the Institute for Preventative Sports Medicine been widely implemented nationally? It seems like a no brainer: the recommendations don't seem to interfere with the enjoyment of the sports, they have been proven to dramatically reduce injuries, and they greatly reduce health care costs. The recommendations seem to make everybody happy. What's the problem? Read the book to find out. I may be prejudiced because Dr. Janda saved my arm, but I loved this book and so has everyone to whom I have given it. I even have something to tease Dr. J about next time I see him: initially entertaining the thought for even a brief second that he had a prayer of taking sliding out of softball.



5. This book is absolutely Magnificent! This book is great for anybody! I fully encourage you to read this book! All coaches everywhere should have it! So, now go out there and buy the heck out of it!!!

1 comments about Country Doctor: The Story of Dr. Claire Louise Caudill.

1. This sits on my shelf next to another book I use for inspiration. I reach for this when I'm tired, or frustrated, and I re-connect with one of the most wonderful women this county ever knew.

2 comments about Medicine Man (Western Frontier Library).

1. Several weeks ago, my wife and I visited the Little Bighorn (Custer) National Battlefield Monument in Montana. As we were leaving the grounds of the monument, we noticed the Big Indian Tepee Trading Post (or something to that effect) across the road ("Gifts, Souvenirs, T-Shirts, Cold Drinks, Food, Whatever"). I didn't feel like getting scalped in a tourist ambush, but my wife wanted to check it out. So, of course, we stopped. And, I'm glad we did, because I came across this absolutely marvelous book.

   Owen Tully Stratton was a medicine show pitchman from 1898 to 1904, and a licensed, small town MD from 1906 to 1950. MEDICINE MAN is his memoir, as edited by his son. In the book's first 100 pages, Owen recounts his crisscrossing of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Montana and Idaho as a medicine show huckster. While today one might view such an entrepreneur as not much better than a used car salesman at best, or scam artist at worst, I learned one very surprising fact. Owen's medicine show, and the others he talks about, regularly employed an MD licensed in the state they were traveling through. In any town the show happened to be working, the physician would set up a temporary office to see patients referred to him by the pitchman. The show's MD was not necessarily any more of a quack than the local medicos, so he was actually in a position to provide legitimate medical care - and often did. Of course the medicine show and its tame MD were bitterly resented by the local sawbones and pill pushers.

   The remainder of the volume is Owen's recollection of his life as a degreed and licensed MD, practicing at various times in Washington, Idaho and Montana. It was a hard existence, both on himself and his family. But Dr. Stratton reminisces with a perceptive wit that calls to mind the writings of the great Mark Twain. At one point, the author, a self-confident general practitioner (GP) but reluctant surgeon, recounts the time he assisted on an appendectomy with a more experienced, but inebriated, cutter:

   "My surgeon, in his drunken enthusiasm, discarded contaminated instruments by throwing them against the wall. The patient knew nothing of that, and her convalescence was uneventful. With that experience, my surgical feet warmed up a trifle."

   Evident to the reader are the striking differences between the practice of medicine then and now, with some not necessarily for the better. Take, for example, "house calls". For those of you too young to be acquainted with the concept, a house call was a visit by a physician to a patient's home to render care. This was simply the way medicine was practiced in those days, and up until the time of the mid 20th century. (As a young boy in the early 50's, I remember accompanying my father, also a GP, on his house call rounds.)

   I cannot recommend this book to highly. I was particularly impressed by the circumstances surrounding the good doctor's own death, as related by his son in an Editor's Epilog. His departure from life was pure class.

   My own father is deceased these past 25 years, but I shall give this volume to my mother, also an MD. Her maternal grandfather was a physician in rural Missouri at the end of the 19th century, and I'm sure she'll find it as fascinating as I did.




2. I may be a bit biased as this book is written by my great-grandfather and edited by my great-uncle. However, the "Medicine Man" is a fun look at a time in U.S. History when the west was still to be explored. It was a time of story tellers and colorful characters. That is the story of the "Medicine Man". I would love to hear what you think of the book. Owen "Brad" Stratton

5 comments about Discovering My Autism: Apologia Pro Vita Sua (With Apologies to Cardinal Newman).

1. Edgar's book is written in small digestible chunks although this is more a book of essays than a flowing narrative. His essays, from a social philosophical stance are interesting, often punctuated with a wry if not cynical wit and his intelligence is clearly quite piercing. I most certainly agree with his comparison of people on the spectrum to cats and, myself, write of 'cat people' in our majority 'dog-person' world and its 'dog-person' social structures.
   
   I'd have preferred, however, to read this as Edgar writing about his own perceptions and experiences without his presumption that his experiences and perceptions define all people's autism (referring to 'all autistics').
   
   The autism field is an evolving field and authors on the spectrum don't need to all be psychologists (it'd be boring and one color if we all were) but do need to have extensive and broad experience of people across the entire spectrum when making generalisations. When they make these presumptions it can detract from the very interesting and valid points they have to make about their own system of functioning and perhaps the applicability this has to those in their particular but significant subgroup.
   
   Having worked with around 600 people on the spectrum over 8 years in the capacity of a qualified teacher diagnosed with autism working as a consultant, I found that Edgar's experiences and perceptions held well for a percentage of those people but not any majority. In this respect his book will certainly inform anyone looking to understand children who fit the 'Mr Spock' mold in which they rely primarily on intellect not sensing and navigate their social world without emotion.
   
   However, even given that stereotype, it can be misapplied to a range of people who actually don't fit it. For example, those with face blindness may consistent react in an emotionally flat manner because even familiar people appear as strangers. Those with severe Scotopic Sensitivity can have such fragmented visual perception they are unable to cohesively process facial expression or body language and so may also fail to respond emotionally yet this is no actual reflection on their capacity to feel emotionally for others. Those with Central Auditory Processing Disorder may fail to get enough consistent meaning from speech to be moved by what others say or only have good enough receptive processing to grasp language on a purely literal level and again this does not equate with being socially emotionless. Those who lack a multi-track capacity to simultaneously process a sense of self and a sense of other may also struggle severely to adapt empathically to the actions and utterances of others and again this is no reflection on their capacity to feel emotions on a social level even though, in the moment, these may fail consistently to be expressed. And there are certain dyspraxias that can limit some people's capacity to connect emotion to their own facial expression or body language and these people, if non-verbal and unable to type are constantly wrongly assumed to be socially emotionless. Those with acute OCD or Tourette's tics may be so harried by their impulse control disorders they have little time to do social-emotional processing and their compulsive disorders can easily be mistaken for lack of empathy. The same can be said of those with depression unable to care about their impact on others any more than they are able to care about themselves or those with bipolar who in manic states lack such a degree of impulse control they may be seen as unempathic. None of these is the same as social emotionlessness and all can and do occur in significant percentages of people on the autistic spectrum with these things labelled part of their 'autism'.
   
   So we have to very very careful when assuming all of these people fit the social emotionlessness of the 'Mr Spock' mold. Just because someone diagnosed with HFA or Asperger's assumes these people are all 'like them' doesn't mean that they, like any onlooker, isn't failing to go beyond the surface behaviors and surface appearances and dare to find that there's a far greater diversity in there than they imagined.
   
   In my experience, however, the Mr Spock stereotype may be more representative of those at the Asperger's and HFA end of the spectrum as many other people with autism are reactionary and physical more than logical, relying on the mapping of pattern, theme and feel and and struggle to hold complex mental ideas and juggle them in their heads yet can be of equal (but usually unrecognised) intelligence to those who fit the Mr Spock mould Edgar (and Temple Grandin) represent well.
   
   Many of the artworks, eloquent poetry and writings of non-verbal people with autism (who have proven the independence of their typing) express a reality far different to this, often one of not of the purely intellectual connection Edgar writes of, but deep emotional connection to others that has, until typing, been unable to be expressed so Edgar's work has to be understood in that context. Given a significant number of people with autism are now being found to have co-morbid bipolar as part of their autism, it is equally hard to imagine Edgar's model strongly applies to these people.
   
   When Edgar casts those with the solitary personality trait (the extreme of which is Schizoid Personality Disorder, which is associated with Social Phobia and fear of emotion and intimacy)out of the autistic circle as he sees it, he also overlooks the fact that this is a natural personality trait that may well be more common in people on the spectrum than he envisions or is comfortable with. Just because he doesn't fit that group, doesn't instantly mean those in that group are not as 'purely autistic' as him. Under extreme chronic stress, as is such with severe processing disorders, it isn't surprising a percentage of people with autism who do have the solitary or avoidant personality traits actually will be socially phobic, have acute social anxiety disorders and fit the Schizoid or Avoidant Personality Disorder criteria and yet be just as autistic as those, like Edgar and Temple Grandin (as he liberally quotes her as being 'like him'), who do not.
   
   I'd have like him to compare this 'social emotionlessness' by which he defines autism with this same widely studied deficit in psychopaths. Whilst a given percentage of brain scans (and certainly not a majority) of those with autism have been found to show damage or atrophy in the areas associated with processing emotion, the majority of psychopaths who underwent the same types of brain scans showed this too. This is not in any way to say people on the autistic spectrum are psychopaths, but this social emotionlessness does add up to one having a choice to intellectually choose to care, or not and the motivation to choose one way or the other may have much to do with which personality traits someone inherits.
   
   Someone with the social emotionlessness Edgar writes of could inherit traits that drive extreme morality (and Edgar clearly highly values his strongly developed and unquestionable morality) in which case they will likely never behave like psychopaths. But others may inherit the self-confident/narcissistic and adventurous/antisocial traits in which case they may well be at far greater risk of psychopathy even if they are on the autistic spectrum. The cases of mass murderers Martin Bryant and Thomas Hamilton come to mind, both of whom have been considered to be 'on the spectrum'. This is not to say someone like Edgar could EVER be 'like that' but this may come down to which collection of personality traits differed as the social emotionlessness seems unavoidably comparable. Similar could be said of the work of Jeanette Purkis (Aspie author of Finding A Different Kind of Normal) who faced this same issue of social emotionlessness without Edgar's natural morality. After years of imprisonment, she came to an awareness of making a choice based on logically not wanting to be on the receiving end of her own types of behaviors.
   
   Psychopathy is not unheard of in individuals on the spectrum, as the work of Dennis Debault informs us. This is where the purist stance of 'all people with autism are X, Y, or Z' falls down because whilst the autisms of all people on the spectrum are
   like 'fruit salads', the ingredients of those fruit salads can be simple or complex and can differ so dramatically under the label. A significant percentage of people on the spectrum will NOT have Edgar's social emotionlessness.
   
   Nevertheless, what Edgar writes is quite representative of a significant number of adult men on the autistic spectrum who may go on to live independently and marry. In this regard I would certainly recommend this book to those in this group and their partners as an excellent resource in understanding expectations and the limitations of counseling based on non-autistic assumptions of the person with autism needing to 'work on their emotions'.
   
   ... Donna Williams
   autistic author of 9 books in the field of autism.



2. This is one of the best autobiographies in re the autism/Asperger's (a/A) spectrum I have ever read. Schneider, who is plainly a gifted man shatters the myth that people with autism are unable to think abstractly. A scholar in the humanities and in his own condition, Schneider draws upon a myriad of resources to support his findings. His background in mathematics and extensive knowledge and research of matters scientific is on a scholarly plane.
   
   Still, Schneider is very inclusive in his writings. He compliments his readers' intelligence by sharing his knowledge; at no time does he deviate from plain speech.
   
   Schneider discusses the paradoxical aspects of autism. One tired myth is that people with autism lack emotion. That is just not true. Autism is a sensori-neurobiological condition that affects sensory processing and communication to varying degrees. It is a chiefly sensory condition and for many people on the spectrum, emotions can be frightening and overwhelming. Many people compensate by displaying a "poker face" rather than give rise to the intensity of their own emotions and responses to stimuli. That is very common among the a/A population.
   
   Show me a person on the a/A spectrum who doesn't hate surprises and having to cope with having things sprung on them and I'll show you a bulldog that flies. For many people with autism, surprises can be very threatening and not knowing what the desired response to same is can make for some tricky social navigation.
   
   However, not all autistics have a limited display of emotion, just as not all autistics think in pictures. Broad generalizations can be very misleading, but I don't get the sense of that with this book.
   
   Autism IS a continuum - its spectrum partner, Asperger's Syndrome is also considered by some to be a form of high functioning autism (HFA). Whether or not Asperger's is HFA, the fact remains that Asperger's IS a form of autism and for any individual on the a/A spectrum, there will be overlapping behaviors and sensory reactions.
   
   Schneider probes into the neurotypical (NT) world with brilliance and logic. He is also very funny and many of his trenchant observations are quite witty. While some may find his risque humor offensive, it can be interpreted as being all in fun and not meant to be taken seriously.
   
   This is a book for everyone, especially people on the a/A spectrum. Many people with Asperger's, will feel a bond with Schneider. He is the voice of reason and explanation; he is the professor with the a/A curriculum. This book is moving; funny; serious; intense; gritty; strong and brilliant. Parts of it might even make you cry. Many parts are uproariously funny. It is a book that will be loved, treasured and savored. Readers will find themselves thinking about this book and author long after they have turned the last page.



3. I am a mother of a 15 year old ASPIE married to a AS spouse. This is probably one of the 'best" books I have read coming from a parent and a adult married to a AS spouse.

   Edgar makes me think and pause and yet think again. He is articulate with superior communication skills. His analogy to having AS or being married to someone that is blind is food for thought for all of us living in a non spectrum world. He has a quick wit and cuts to the chase. If you want to know, "HOW" AS can affect someone that has it or is involved in a in a mixed marriage, relationship or friendship without knowing it, this books is a "must" read.




4. I am a mother of a 15 year old ASPIE married to a AS spouse. This is probably one of the 'best" books I have read coming from a parent and a adult married to a AS spouse.

   Edgar makes me think and pause and yet think again. He is articulate with superior communication skills. His analogy to having AS or being married to someone that is blind is food for thought for all of us living in a non spectrum world. He has a quick wit and cuts to the chase. If you want to know, "HOW" AS can affect someone that has it or is involved in a in a mixed marriage, relationship or friendship without knowing it, this books is a "must" read.




5. I am a mother of a 15 year old ASPIE married to a AS spouse. This is probably one of the 'best" books I have read coming from a adult married to a AS spouse.

   Edgar makes me think and pause and yet think again. He is articulate with superior communication skills. His analogy to having AS or being married to someone that is blind is food for thought for all of us living in a non spectrum world. He has a quick wit and cuts to the chase. If you want to know, "HOW" AS can affect someone that has it or is involved in a in a mixed marriage, relationship or friendship without knowing it, this books is a "must" read.