It is recorded that I was born Richard Malcolm Head Jr. September 22 1938. My mother was Ruth Armstrong and father Richard Malcolm Head Sr. The place was Orlando Florida in the USA.
I know little about my parents families. It was one of the many things not discussed. This was probably due to the somewhat painful lives they had as children. Mother was one of two, she had an older sister Helen. Born in a small town in Georgia she was orphaned at an early age. Her father died of a stroke and mother of cancer. She does remember her mother as a loving and intelligent person who was well thought of. She went to a good school and lived happily until their death.
Some property, which included a hotel, was left but relatives arrived and took everything with any value. The girls were sent to Atlanta to live with an Aunt. My Mother remembers Atlanta as a lively beautiful place. She finished high school with honors and continued on to a business school.
She met my dad in Atlanta. Mother died at age 86 and had dementia..
My Father was raised in Georgia and had one brother, Jim. Dads Mother was part Cherokee and had been married but lost her husband during the First World War. She married his brother and had my Father. My Dad had an opportunity for a good education but was more interested in having fun all the time. He was a big, handsome, gregarious and likable guy. It is strange that they got together since Mother was very reserved, completely different from my Father. My father died of a heart attack at the young age of 52.
I have seen pictures of me as a small boy with long blonde curls to my shoulders and a black scottie dog. I have no memories of an unpleasant childhood and was well cared for and loved. There are pictures of me with my grandfather, a tall thin bald man who appears to enjoy me. He died from a fall from an apple tree.
PICTURE TIME
Me in the Newspaper
Dickie, Dad , Mom and Peggy
Nancy and I in Fla. 1980's
Nancy, Kevin and I in Canada 1971
My first Love and mother of Bradley. Barbara and I just married. 1959
The teen age "cool guys" 1954
The wise guy 12 year old
Myself and my two wonderful sons 1980's
Those same guys 2002
Myself and a bummer lamb Fortuna farm 1970's
My baseball buddy in Washington
The Marvelous Newport Beach Lifeguards ( I'm in the 2nd row just to the left of the 1958).
Myself and son Bradley just before I left for medical School in St. Louis 1961
My working as a Radiologist in Fortuna 1970's
Kevin at age 4
Me at age 5
My 2 years as a Major in the Army at Fort Knox Kentucky 1970-72.
Mom, Dad and I graduation UCLA ,BA degree, 1960
My Life time love Nancy and I marrying 1964
Nancy and I Fortuna , 1990's
Kevin and Nancy and I at a picture shooting at Fort Knox 1971
My self and the middle school basketball team 1950's
Me and a friend in the 1939 time.
Dad joined the Navy about the time of WWII and mother and I lived in Miami Florida in an apartment house. I am pictured as a small boy dressed in a sailors uniform with a doting mother next to me. I don't remember much of my father since he was gone most of the time.
I remember my first time at school where I immediately got into trouble. I refused to line up for a coat (since I did not wear a coat.) Evidentially that did not matter since the lining up when told was the important thing. This trait of bucking authority was to be mine forever.
My sister Peggy was born when I was 4. I was sent to a "home" for 4 days and it was a traumatic time. I missed my mother and would not eat and even bit a glass and cut my mouth. It was my first remembered trauma. I guess I adjusted to my sister although I think it was hard to share Mother with her. Miami had hurricanes and I remember the huge winds and the people at the apartment all in one area. I thought it a big party with lots of treats.
My dad was absent until I was about 5 or 6. He was in the Navy and fought in WW2. He had difficult experiences with ships sunk and friends killed. We then moved to San Diego Calif. I had visions of the wild west with cowboys and Indians so I wore my Roy Rogers Pajamas as a cowboy suit. I had a toy gun and holster. The train trip took several days.
We lived in a Navy Housing project in San Diego and I went to Silver bluff school. I was a good but somewhat underachieving student. I remember taking the side of black students who were picked on by many of the white students. I had a tall black girl as my maypole dance partner and had to fight with some other boys because of it. I remember having concern about the unfairness of how I thought some were treated. There was an isolated creek with lots of tall reeds and plant growth near our house. I spent many hours there enjoying the natural surroundings and marveled at the many Monarch butterflies that had cocoons and then matured into beautiful creatures.
I was constantly on my bike riding throughout the project, organizing neighborhood ball teams and dramas. I would play play until dark. Sometimes at dusk we would all play kick the can and hide and delight in the excitement of racing for home. This was when I got my first Schwinn bike for Xmas, a wonderful shiny green and white bike that I would spend hours riding which gave me a great amount of freedom.
I met my friend Jon Shannon along with his brother Dennis when I was eight. We would spend Saturday afternoons walking to the National theatre to see an ongoing serial and the movie of the week. Afterwards, we would come home and act it out with costumes, wooden swords and all. Jon and I loved the leading roles and Dennis did not mind just fitting into any part provided. Years later (50) Jon and I were to meet again and renew our friendship.
My world was again changed when we moved to Bellingham Washington. I remember the car ride with me next to my dad with all the maps out and tracking and marking our route. In those days there were no super highways and you drove through all the little towns and stops. This took more time but it was a great adventure. My mother, sister and my aunt Helen were in the back seat.
Bellingham was a new world to me. The rugged Northwest with rain and snow and rivers full of fish.
I rode my bike through forests, watched salmon spawn and trout jump. Sadly, I also killed my first bird. I made a slingshot and became very proficient. One day, without a thought, I saw a beautiful Robin on a branch and shot him. I ran over and saw blood all over his red breast and his eyes fluttering shut. I can't describe the despair I felt and the sadness that overtook me. It has been part of me since.
I had a wonderful dog named Lady, but lady liked to kill chickens and no matter what punishment I did she could not overcome her nature. It was so sad but we had to take her to a place where she could not be a bird dog. My Dad had the job of dealing with this. I did well in school and was considered an excellent student but my report always showed me to be a discipline problem. My excitement and my antiauthority attitude was always present making me difficult to contain. My father and I would take a Landing Ship boat (the kind they used to unload marines on beaches) in the beautiful Puget Sound and use shiny tin can lids with hooks to attract Salmon. We always caught our limits. The rivers were filled with salmon in the fall as they came to spawn.
I spent many hours playing baseball and became an adequate second baseman. I could bat fairly well but once on base I could steal (probably due to the unskilled catchers). Baseball was a chance to find a part of myself, develop confidence and learn to be part of a team. I think the absence of parents being involved allowed we kids to work out our own plans and deal with disagreements ourselves. This was a great experience.
As a boy scout I was a failure. I just did not fit into the discipline they wanted and thought the merit badge work boring. My first and last camp trip was a disaster. My loving aunt and mother packed my bag with food for a month. Mostly canned foods (heavy items) and a sleeping bag. I made it about 20 minutes and had to turn back. I was mortified and thus ended my scout career.
Next, we were on the move again back to San Diego. We lived in Navy housing and I started a new school. By this time I had been in a number of schools but was relaxed about it. I found there was always a "pecking" order and to change it took some nerve, boldness and confidence. I did not lack for any of these. I was always able to establish myself.
I went to Horace Mann Jr. High. I loved to play basketball and spent hours practicing and I met a new friend, Carmen Scozzafava. Yes, a mature looking accordion playing Italian boy with a father who made gallons of wine. We became close friends and went everywhere together. We built our own basketball court on a slanted hill and became very skilled at dribbling. I developed a jump shot since Carmen was taller. We chased girls, rode bikes everywhere and worked on weekends at the first Jack In The Box in San Diego. I fell in love with a cute gal named "Punky". I would moon around to be near her, wrote love notes and made phone calls. She was interested in another friend, Joe Cottrell, unfortunately not me. My first heartbreak (of many).
Since we lived in San Diego many days were spent hitch hiking on Mission Valley road to the old Mission beach. Girls and surf and cold beer! Little did I know that those hours in the sun would give me various skin cancers in later life. A life's lesson, stay away from direct sun exposure.
High School was a new and challenging experience. I went to Hoover High and it was a school of about 1000. A large high school for the time. Many junior high students were sent here so a whole new large group had to be met and figured out. I was able to establish lots of friends and enlarged my group. There was a social club called the "Beaux Espirits" which was the group to belong to . They were the popular guys and had the girls. You had to be invited to join and they only asked 3-4 freshmen each year. It was a major honor to be asked. I never was sure what made you eligible but I was asked along with two of my new friends Gene Emery (Emo) and Gary Cook. We were ecstatic when the invitation was given. The initiation consisted of having a good hard swat on the butt by each of the 30 or so members. You met in a garage and the members hooted and yelled as you took your swats. I made the mistake of telling Emo that I had padded my underwear. It was Emo's nature to not be trustworthy (as I was often to find out) and he told. WOW did I get whacked with no protection. It must have seemed worth it at the time.
After becoming a member for a year I realized that most of the club members were not that great and were actually boring. I was unable to change anything and decided to form a brand new club. The first time this had been done at Hoover. I met with what I thought were the "coolest" guys and presented my idea. They were in agreement so we started a club called the "De Novas" which means something new from something old. I designed a necklace with a silver frame and a small tourquoise stone.
The old club members were furious and we had very hard feelings from then on. To add to their insult all of the new "coolest" guys chose to join our club, the girls thought we were "cooler" and our parties were the must go to parties. We met girls from other schools and would arrange parties with them. Soon, the other club guys were after us. Since I was the president and had started the club, I was a major target. My car was vandalized, I had at least 2 scheduled fights after school each week and was now disliked by some of the coaches since we were attracting some of their athletes to the club. You could get more dates as a club member then breaking your bones playing football.
The Fairmont drive in was the hang out spot. You showed off your car, hustled girls and arranged parties. The waitresses actually wore short skirts and carried out the food in trays and placed it on the open drivers window. The hot Chuck Berry and Fats Domino songs were playing and all radios tuned in to "Wolfman Jack". Our dates were often for the movie drive in. You had two people in the car seats pay to go into the movie and had two more in the trunk. Of course Kissey, kissey and discovering girls was the main reason and few movies were seen.
I also decided to run for the high school office "Commissioner of Culture". This was a good position and allowed me to plan almost all school events and work closely with all the cute cheerleaders. My sign said "Everyone needs Dick Head". It created a controversy but was a big hit.
One of the lucky things I did was to meet people from the Red Cross. They liked my attitude and felt that I was a good public speaker and leader. They allowed me to do many things I would never have experienced and the most memorable was a cross country train trip through Chicago, Washington and New York with a summer on a beautiful campus in Canada. I was able to meet and get to know numbers of outstanding students from all over the world which I could never have afforded without their support.
One memory is my getting on the train from San Diego to Los Angeles then taking a bus to the LA colliseum where I watched the LA Rams. Bob Waterfield was quarterback and "Crazy Legs" Hirsch was the receiver. A great day for me.
Balboa Week in Southern Calif is a big event. Everybody goes to Balboa, rents a motel, gets kegs of beer, lays on the beach, hustles girls and Party party all the time. We all went as a group about 4 to a car and perhaps 10 cars. My car was a 56 ford with two tone black and white paint, white leather seat covers from Mexico, lowered so it rode like a truck but looked way cool. Two pair of large black and white dice hung from the mirror. My hair was in a stylish ducktail, white T and jeans rolled up at the cuffs. penny loafers and white socks. Way cool. Besides the motel parties with kids from all over we would dress up in shirt and tie and go to the Balboa ballroom, a huge dance place on the beach. Big bands like Woody Herman, and others would play. We would slow dance or "jitterbug" until 2. Then back to the motel and beach for party time. Pictures show us with weight loss, baggy red eyes and total exhaustion as we left. But everyone smiling big.
My true love in High school was a cheerleader and Hawaian dancer Linda Taylor. She was a total knockout and I could not stay away. My rival was a football player and he and I had no love for one another even though we were both in the same club. Linda did marry Terry and they had a daughter who went on to be a movie star Twana Kitaen.
Although I was not poor we had minimum resources. I did lots of jobs to support my dating, car and any expenses. My parents could feed me and offer a comfortable home but had little left over. I recognized this and was appreciative of what they gave me. I accepted that if I were to want more I had to earn it. I worked on a landscape crew with many hispanics, hot tough work. I was a cook in the Jack in the box, worked after school as a janitor cleaning restrooms, had a number of lawn upkeep jobs, did odd jobs like painting or digging, worked in a clothing store, and worked as a door to door salesman. Besides learning many things I also realized I had a lot of ambition.
The sales job was a life lesson. My boss was a crusty old guy from New York who smoked cigars and drove a red cadillac. I was selling Golden West pots and pans. Being young and presentable (I wore a cheap suit) I got appointments. I had a well rehearsed sales pitch and would spread all the cook ware out on a purple velvet cloth and do my pitch. I was actually very good and sold a number of sets but good old Mr.Lundy only paid me for a few. This job gave me confidence, social skills and taught me to think on my feet. It also left me with a life lesson. One day, when I had one too many doors slammed in my face I told Lundy I was discouraged. He replied "Boy, only 50% of people in this world will like you or anyone, you need to find those 50% and sell em'"
I also was planning on college. Early in my life I had decided to become a doctor. Knowing what I wanted to do was a help getting me started. A lot of this was my mothers influence but I also had a strong ambition to be something special. I always thought I could be special but I knew most people did. The difference was the ones who acted to make this happen. I took College prep classes and achieved good grades. I was a serious student and teachers liked me. I did lots of school activities and was a speaker at many clubs. All of this helped me get into UCLA.
My mother supported me the whole way. She was the glue that held things together. Unfortunately her life was not all joy. My lovable , irresponsible father was seldom around. He had a "girl in every port" loved to party and drank to excess. He was fun to be with and gave me love and help when he was around. I spent lots of time away from home and did not realize all the pain and suffering my mother had. Unfortunately. Peggy being younger and dependent on mother and dad also picked up some anxiety and distress that interfered with her life. I was oblivious to all this. I was wrapped up with myself. I feel sad that I was not more aware. A problem with being young is that you are wrapped up in yourself.
Finally, June 1956, Graduation. I was living in a temporary housing in the Navy project at the time. Converted quonset huts. I remember going out my door with all the neighbors hanging wash and kids playing, with my white tuxedo on and a big flower for my date. I stepped into my 56 Ford and off to pick up my date. We doubled with Carmen and went to a very chic restaurant in La Jolla that actually was built onto rocks that were almost in the ocean. Waves splashed against the windows. Then onto a dance with the guys in Tux and the girls in full on evening gowns.
Later, that same night we drove to the dessert , Borregia Springs, to stay at a resort with pools and bars and lots of hideouts. The girls had their own rooms and we had chaperons. My dad was a chaperon and I had a message from the bar to come get him since he was drunk. I became the chaperon.
I went home and immediately packed and drove off to Lake Arrowhead where the Red Cross had given me a summer job as a camp supervisor. A great wonderful carefree summer where I met some outstanding young people on their way to college. Towards the end of the summer I had another offer for a job in LA.This was a older couple who lived in the Hollywood hills. One of the people I met at camp was a hispanic from East LA. I became friends and visited him at his house. It was strange since almost no "white" people ever visited this area. I was a curiosity and actually was somewhat guarded by my friend from possible danger. It showed me the tremendous difference in opportunities in our society.
It also made me appreciate that the state Government funded our excellent Colleges and Universities. Myself and many other lower income families could never have had the opportunity to receive a quality education. This has been lost since the funding has been cut to minimum levels.
This couple were older, in their 70's , and were very interesting. She was a wealthy lady and granddaughter to the Huntington family. Her husband was Scottish and had been a ambassador to Germany before the war. He had met Hitler and his whole group of thugs and was with Chamberlain when he signed over Europe to Hitler. Many wonderful stories were told as I would drive him around the Hollywood hills in a big Lincoln as he told me of his adventures. I lived in a actual round tiled turrent with a 380 degree view of LA. I painted watercolors in the garden as he sat and talked. I would walk his two full sized poodles. At night I would put on a coat and tie (a scot plaid coat he bought for me) and the 3 of us would have a 5 course dinner served by a maid. The dining room was beautiful handcrafted wood and terra cotta tiles. I seemed thin to him so he insisted I drink high caloric drinks. The conversations of the two were fascinating to me and introduced me to a lifestyle I had never seen. After 6 weeks he was very ill with cancer and I was with him when he died. I was very disturbed since he and I had grown close and he introduced me to so much.
Next I arrived at Westwood and UCLA. At that time it was a big school of 15,000 and parking was impossible even then. The first week was "Rush" week by the fraternities. A week of nonstop wild parties. You went to each fraternity house and were told of all the cool and special things being in the house would allow you. They in turn would pass judgement as to whether you were worthy of them. I was lucky to have many offers to join and decided to be a Beta Theta Pi. This was a great honor I thought because it was considered THE house and had many great guys. Fortunately I could not afford to live in the house and got an apartment. This probably saved me from poor grades and a diseased liver. I moved into an apartment with a new friend George Francis. I worked at Ralphs market in Westwood a few hours each week, and spent the rest of my time dealing with the overwhelming demand of a premed college curriculum. At that time no computers and I had to learn to do math with a slide rule, advanced algebra and other demands I had not prepared for. The campus was so big it was hard to get to classes on time. Chemistry , zoology , physics, french, art history all demanding and worth 17 units of credit. I needed to get at least a 3 point (out of 4) to be competitive for medical school acceptance. I tried the military programs but dropped out immediately due to the demands they made which I thought stupid.
I became a very close friend with Bob Troxler, a local boy who was a high school football player. He was one of the most unusual people I ever met. Brilliant (eventually became a biochemistry teacher in Boston) but a true wild man. He studied hard and played harder. I tried to keep up and did a good job but it did hurt my studies. He introduced me to some others and we became a legend in our own minds called the "Rasty 5". I am embarrassed to think of the wild things and risks we took. I survived this impulsive time and made it onto the upper division.
I soon realized I had to make a decision whether I wanted to be a Frat boy or a student. Also, I had to find a more serious group of friends.
I met a more laid back group of guys in another fraternity and decided to hang out with them. They were fun but not the wild impulsive guys I had been part of. My friend George Francis was the son of a judge in Newport Beach Ca and was a bartender during the summer. He told me of the fun and games and many girls available. I decided I would become a lifeguard, why not? I began to swim laps in the olympic sized pool at UCLA during my lunch time. At first I was exhausted after 2 laps.Soon I was swimming over 20 with ease. I realized the pool was not the ocean so I went to Malibu one late after noon and tried to swim around the pier. This was a disaster since I got washed into the pilings by forceful waves and was cut by barnacles, bruised and barely got out. A wake up call. I spent time surfing at late evening and swimming more distance. My studies made me not have the time I needed but I was Mr. Confidence.
February 1957 and time to go to Newport for the test to see if I could qualify. George drove and I studied. We arrived and the beach was cold at 58 degrees and a fog was present. The water was 60 or below. There were over 100 candidates and almost all were from the swim teams at UCLA, USC, Stanford etc. Lean muscular guys who swam many miles each week and were in top shape. I did not let this discourage me, since I thought I could at least get one of the spots. The first event was 4 at a time running 400 yards then into the surf out about 1/4 mile and back and then race to the finish. Timing was key. I finished but was hypothermic and went immediately to the car with blankets and then hot tea and George telling me how tough I was. Next we had to go in the water again and swim 1 mile in less then 18 minutes and end under the pier. I don't know how I had the fortitude to even get in the water but made the swim just under the time limit. Then it was to jump off the pier (about 3 stories high) into the water. The jump had to be timed with a incoming wave for water depth. I was afraid of this height and asked the guy behind me to give me a shove when I said "now". It worked and I made it. There were other tests over the weekend but I did finish them all. The result was I was on the alternate list, which considering the competition was a victory. Before the summer I was told I did have a position. School ended and I arrived in Newport beach as a bonifide California dreaming lifeguard!
George was excited and introduced me to all the good looking waitresses and ladies he met at the bar. George was a very smooth guy for his age. I met my fellow lifeguards most of whom were from other California schools. We hung out at a beach front bar called Blackie's.. Lots of pool, smoked salmon, crackers and cold cold beer. It was the hang out for the lifeguards each afternoon about 6. Many local girls would show up and parties would be arranged. I was staying with George and his dad but met a fellow lifeguard Dean Stokesberry. He was a quiet and thoughtful fellow and his dad had a very large beach house built during the 1920s'. It was right on the beach at 12th St. I was one of about 12 life guards that moved in. We had a big open porch that was 300 yards from the surf and we had lights to shine at night to surf. Big beach fires, lots of food and cold kegs with music from the house. It was the California experience. Breakfast was cooked on a big open outside grill and was shared by all.
Even though I was guarding on the back bay I had great adventures with the people who rented houses for the summer. I had a navy gray Nash Rambler convertable and all the kids would pile on at 6 and I would drive them slowly around the neighborhood and their mothers would wave and shout to come in for a drink. Soon myself and other guards were getting Bar B Q and gin drinks and lots of attention. I was so dark I was beyond tan and my hair was bleached to white. I usually wore a lifeguard jacket and shorts, totally faded, and sandals. This was my attire all summer. At the end of the season a group of 6 or so were to fly to Hawaii and then Tahiti then Australia and who knows where to surf. That was the coming of age quest in those days. I was sorely tempted but knew I might never finish school and have a medical career so I passed. Another important life decision we are all faced with It is these decisions that determine our lives.
I had some interesting experiences while at UCLA. Among them was getting a part time job at the end of one summer as a driver in Hollywood. I would drive a van or bus to locations where TV shows were shot. My stars included Ozzie and Harriet and David and Rickey Nelson. Hoggie Carmichael and Robert Montgomery. I also dated a girl, Dale Rosenthal, whose father was a producer. One afternoon I was picking her up in a grand mansion in Bel Air and sitting at the downstairs at a bar like room and sitting at this bar was Zaza Gabor and Ava Gardner and I got to meet them.
I realized that I had to become more serious as a student and saw the many outstanding students I was competing with. Many were smarter so I had to work harder. My great asset was in being able to organize myself and I had a system of constant review so I was always prepared for exams without the all night struggles. Sleep deprivation reduces test scores.
I began to spend more time in the library and became friends with the better students and studied with them. Later, almost all of these went on to become established in many areas of medicine. My social life was minimal but I was still a sucker for girls. I became friends with Darryl Gustafson, a friendly guy who was from a small town in the Valley, Kingsburg. One night I met his sister Barbara, a new freshman student. She was the most beautiful girl I thought I had ever seen. She was intelligent and had a very snappy sense of humor. I fell immediately. However, she had a boyfriend at UCLA. I don't remember the details but I really worked and worked to win her over. Soon we were together and I was totally in Love.
I would drive to see her and stay in her home in Kingsburg. What a different place that was for me. Her father was a school supervisor and a lay Baptist preacher. He immediately took a dislike of me. I think he had made arrangements in his mind for Barbara to finish school and come home and marry a local boy and family friend. He saw his plans changing with me. The mother was gracious and kind and I developed a friendship with her.
I would drive all night from Newport beach in my 58 black Mercury and arrive in the AM in my lifeguard togs. I can appreciate why the father was not happy. But Barbara and I were lost without each other. During the spring of 1959 Barbara and I united together , in love, and she became pregnant. We were shocked but decided to have the baby, I could not stand the thought of an abortion, and we would marry. I would finish school, get a job and save to go to Medical school, I really believed I could do it. We were married in Kingsburg (it is interesting that I have repressed almost all the details and remember nothing of the actual marriage). We had a healthy son, Bradley in December 1959, and I rented an apartment in Santa Monica. We were good friends with another premed, Ed and Linda Mikulicich, who had the same experience we did. They had a son Mark and the 4 of us spent many hours together. My plan was to lifeguard one more summer and I then had a job with the Upjohn Company for the fall in San Francisco. I was finishing school and studying even harder and had developed a number of Lawn maintenance jobs that paid very well and I could do them on my own schedule. Money was not a problem at the time.
I came home one afternoon and no one was there. Barbara and her things and Bradley were gone! I was panicked and called all over. I finally called Kingsburg and was told Barbara would not talk to me. No explanation was given. Remember, I was still terribly in love with Barbara and very attached to my son. I found out later that Barbara was driven by her father in a prepared plan to leave. He had told her of his visions of me getting drunk and hurting her and the baby. He evidentially had her so afraid of me that perhaps she was eager to leave. In any case no explanation given, I was not allowed to talk to Barbara, only her mother would talk to me and was a dear friend at that time. I was broken hearted but went forward to my new job and experiences in San Francisco.
I had a BA but no money so I needed to work and save. Again, I cannot remember the details but it ended up with Barbara marrying the childhood choice of her father, uniting two old families in Kingsburg, and they adopted Bradley but allowed me to visit. I took as many trips as I could to spend time with him since I wanted to keep contact. It was difficult coming to her house with everyone gone except Verna. I still loved Barbara and it was so painful to be in the same town and not see her. I can say this was a huge emotional disaster for me and one I took years to get over. Even now I cannot remember details of this time. With time I have come to realize that it was the best for Barbara and I. She found a partner that she loved and had a happy life . I found a partner that has been the biggest blessing of my life.
I packed all my belongings in my car, drove up Highway 99 , through the East bay and suddenly there were the lights of San Francisco. I was dazzled and thrilled. The fog was coming in and I really lost my heart to the place. I had interviewed at school with various pharmaceutical companies to become a "detail" (sales) man. I was hired by Upjohn in a new and experimental division called special products. The idea was to visit doctors a year or so before release of a new drug and educate them on it before it was available. My extensive school work allowed me to understand these things. I was to spend 1 month with two gentleman from Upjohn in training. They were to meet me in SF.
When I arrived I stayed with a friend in Berkley but soon realized SF was for me. I found a wonderful place in the best part of town , Pacific Heights. It was a bed and breakfast and was in the Spreckles mansion. This was an old San Francisco estate and had all the charm and glamour one expected. It was filled with young people from all over coming to San Francisco, as I did, to start their careers. I covered the city going everywhere and absorbing the excitement. this was in 1960 and the Beat generation was in full swing in North Beach. Again, a whole new experience was happening before my eyes.
The Spreckles was a world in itself. Intelligent, active young men and women living together in the excitement of SF. The rooms were desirable with marble floors, fireplaces, large windows. A huge community living room and a wonderful Restaurant were available. There were actually gardens to walk in and all in the best area of SF. I soon met one of to be best friends Hank Bakker. A tall ,wirey Dutchman with a individuality unique to Europeans. He had left Holland, gone to Portland and worked as a printer and now was in SF with a new job. He was eager to meet friends and I was drawn to his intelligence and independent nature. We spent many hours telling each about our lives and getting to know each other. He had a tiny small car that two could barely fit in and the tires were like a tricycle. We went every where together. Driving up Lombard the wrong way for excitement, visiting small basement restaurants in Chinatown, going to jazz joints, to bars to meet and greet. Weekends with picnics in Goldengate park and Stinson beach. Meeting new friends every day. What a grand time. I made trips to Kingsburg to see Brad but had such distress as it reminded me of the loss of Barbara. Trips to Tahoe for beginning skiing and unsuccessful gambling.
My two Upjohn mentors turned out to be very kind and worldly men. John Shea and Pete Van Hafften were top executives and did not normally train new sales people. However, I was in a special division and they both loved SF. I had my car and a expense account and making well over $1000 per month, a big salary then. I bought new suits and shirts and ties and a briefcase. I looked like the young SF Business guy. I was taught all the information needed and then was escorted to doctors offices where I learned to charm the receptionists, keep track of all names and family info and make calls. I had to organize all of the bay area and schedule my calls. In the evenings the Upjohn guys took me to the best restaurants in SF. Price was no object. I learned about dining, wines, and all other social graces that I had never been exposed to. Besides great fun I learned to really like these men and they were very kind to me.
Hank and I and another guy, Dick Garvin, rented our own apartment in the downstairs of an older home near twin peaks. We did some remodeling of our rooms and were most impressed by a full length official old SF hotel bar in the living room. This was the site of numerous parties. We had many adventures, met many girls and lived the SF life as much as possible.
I went to a special week meeting in Kalamazoo and flew on an airplane for the first time. In those days it was a big occasion and you wore suit and tie. While at the meeting I got a tour of the huge Upjohn plant and the wonderful estate where the meetings were held. I saw the great wealth of a major corporation. At this time i was offered an opportunity to come to Kalamazoo at the end of the year and go into a 3 year executive program. I was very honored but still wanted to become a doctor. I began to apply to medical schools. Many of the California schools were too difficult to get into with a 3.4 average and I was becoming discouraged. However, after an interview I was accepted to medical school at St. Louis University. I was thrilled and all the years of work had paid off for me. Due to living on my expense account I had saved well over $10,000 and this was enough to get me going. It was with some sadness that I met with my two Upjohn supporters and told them of my plans. It is interesting to think what my life would have been had I gone with Upjohn.
I had to take one course in evolutionary biology for med school so back to LA where I attended Northridge college and worked at night as an orderly. The summer passed and I arranged to travel with two girls starting med school in Boston. With my suitcase and a Japanese microscope my dad bought me I left SF and drove to St Louis. It was an adventure driving across country and taking turns sleeping in the backseat while someone else drove. We moved day and night, no motels for us. I arrived in St.Louis in a downtown neighborhood near the medical school. I had no place to stay and my friends let me out adjacent to a beautiful Park and many older homes. we said our goodbyes and off they went to Boston.
I had a suitcase in one hand and a microscope in the other. As I walked around I remember a sign in front of a Babtist church advertising the benefits of its summer school. Included were the "racially segregated" notice. I knew I was in a different world then California. It was Hot and humid. I found an attractive house with a small blonde girl playing with her dad. I introduced myself and asked about rooming houses. He showed me a large and pleasant upstairs stairs attic that had a great large tub, small kitchen and a big room overlooking the park. He offered it to me for a reasonable amount and it was near the school. I had a place to stay! It was easy to move in. I took a door and sawhorses and built a large desk and made bookcases. I went exploring. About 1 block away was a medical fraternity house. I was soon a member and now had a place to get my meals as well as meeting a number of fellow medical students.
There was a week before classes. During this time I received an unexpected notice to appear at a large train station in downtown St. Louis for a pre army physical. I was sure there was a mistake since I thought I had a deferment. I arrived and was put in line with hundreds of young guys. We stood around with our underware on and were exposed to a rough and quick physical. They were loading a train with those who passed to go to Arkansas to boot camp. I tried to explain but no one listened. I was able to call the dean of the medical school who saved me from becoming a soldier in Viet Nam rather then a doctor. Again, lifes little jokes and how they can change your life.
School started and I was so ready. Years of effort to get here. I loved the school. It was in a difficult part of town but was old red brick and had a long history of many doctors graduating. it was a very old and romantic feeling school. As I sat in my first class, histology. or "thru the gut with pen and microscope' I was all attention. Due to my excellent education at UCLA I was used to long lectures and lots of reading. I was good at taking notes and organizing my material. When the lecture was over I had 3 times the notes of most. Many of these guys had gone to small private schools and were not prepared for the rush and hustle of large classes. I was in my element. In California I had finished premed with top students who were very quick and smart so I soon realized I was well attuned to this. Going to a big competitive school is tough but there are some advantages that are learned.
The school experience was overall wonderful and I became used to the demands. It was a full day of anatomy, physiology, histology, with lectures and time in labs. The dissection of our cadavers took many hours and often you returned in the evening to work. We had teams of two to a cadaver and every square inch was dissected and evaluated. Physiology was many hours of lecture. It was common to have 15 pages of notes and two hours of required reading each night for each subject. This was like taking 24 units in college, where the best students took no more then 17. I would come home at 5 or 6, have dinner at the fraternity, go to my apt. soak for 45 minutes in a hot tub and doze (I used a timer) then sit at my desk until about 2 then bed. Up at 7. On the week ends sleep in, breakfast with friends then study at the library till 6. Saturday night was "let it loose" time. Out to the local country bars, lots of beers, dancing (remember the "Twist"?) and general hell raising. Sunday was group breakfast (with some hangovers) then back to the study until late Sunday night. Sounds dismal but we loved it and were absorbing more information then we thought possible. I often thought that if I had this approach in college I would have been a star student. Unfortunately, we all grow old quick and too late smart.
I was able to keep in touch with Brad via his wonderful loving and really Christian grandmother Verna. She was kind and I would pour all my experiences to her and send love to Brad.
I met a good friend Bill Mohlenbroch who was from Illinois and a big friendly likeable guy. We studied together, partied and had great times. He became a orthopedic surgeon in La Jolla Ca and later started a major computer medical records company. He invited me to his home in Illinois for Christmas and I had an experience attending a goose hunt. Although I did not shoot I was still put off by the killing of these magnificent creatures. My partner in the goose pit was an older man who chewed tobacco and kept telling me it was the "anpissatation" that he liked about hunting. Not me. We also went to out of the way "roadhouses" where the black blues bands played all night. Way out on dead end dirt roads and run down wooden shelters with dim lights , lots of booze and great music. Bill always managed to get us enjoyable dates.
At the end of the first year I was the #1 student in the class. An unusual position for me since at UCLA I was always a middle of the class student. The #2 student was a guy from Notre Dame and he went on to form a genetic company after going to Stanford business school after medical school. After school ended Bill and I decided to do a slow and fun drive to California. His dad gave us the use of a new car and a credit card for gas. A unusual first year student, Norman Chernick , joined us on the trip. Norman later became a Neuro Psychiatrist in New York but was already a very deep and thoughtful guy. We slept out in the cornfields of Iowa, drove through small towns and ate at many wonderful local cafes, stopped and hit a few bars and chatted up the ladies, camped in Colorado, went through Salt Lake city, gambled and spent two nights in Reno and then on to San Francisco! was I happy to be back in my home land. Bill and I then did a 3 week slow cruise all over the coast from Mexico to the Redwoods. Bill then drove back to St.Louis. However, he was bitten by the California bug and returned for the rest of his life after medical school.
I could not bear the thought of another St.Louis summer and winter so I applied for my 2nd. year at UCLA, Cal and Stanford medical schools. Because of my outstanding first year record (all A grades) I was accepted by all 3. I decided on San Francisco since I was now at home here. I was accepted and would start in the fall of 1962. I now had a whole summer ahead. I was saving my money so I needed a job and shelter.
I was visiting LA and my old lifeguard friends but I was not wanting to go back to that job. I came across a veterinarian who had a large Spanish like home with tiles and beautiful lawns and his house was elsewhere but the office, dog boarding kennels and a guest house on the property in Beverly Hills. I was hired for a salary and given the spacious 2 bedroom guest house to stay in. I helped him with the animals and I read that Harry Belafonte was to play at the Greek Bowl and the group with him was The New Christy Minstrals. I had a very good friend from high school , Nick Woods, who was a member of this group. I called the hotel he was staying and we hooked up. That began a 5 week series of the most decadent activities I ever had. The whole group would come over after the shows, Barry McQuire, Randy Sparks, Nick Woods and lots of groupies. We had beautiful young Hollywood wantobes everywhere. Lots of Drugs and Booze. I was not a drug user-maybe a puff or two of weed but cocaine and the rest were too scary for me. Its best not to get specific but that was a summer to remember (?forget). I do remember leaving a party at 6 AM and going to the dog kennels and hosing things down and cleaning up the messes and then back to the house to shower and breakfast. This became a routine. Not bad but definitely not the way to spend your life.
Again, I would try to get to Kingsburg on certain weekends, stay in a motel, play with Brad, visit Verna but still missing Barbara who refused to see me. I still do not understand this since I never was abusive to her and only showed love and affection for her and Bradley. Yet, I was treated as a husband who had beaten his wife and child. I was angry about this.
September came and it was back to San Francisco for Medical school. I was able to move back to my old apartment in Twin Peaks with Hank. It was like moving home again. It was easy to get to the school and still had the amazing feel of a Hotel bar and party room. Way different from my Monk like existance in St.Louis.
School was like an old homecoming, many of my fellow Premeds from UCLA were there and I felt at home. Again, the smaller traditional almost romantic feeling of St. Louis U. was replaced by the modern, big, no nonsense corridors of UCSF. And right away I noticed the student caliber difference. Aggressive, ambitious, bright students out to be the best. I was no longer the top alpha student. The second year was also very demanding and my many hours of study returned. We were now being introduced to physical diagnosis which was an important course in those days since we did not have the many wonderful ways of imaging and diagnosing by machines. It was the traditional long practiced "art of Medicine' where an involved history covering many specific areas was obtained and then a well planned and thought out physical exam done. All the information then put together and a preliminary diagnosis made. Tests were then ordered to confirm or rule out these conclusions. Today it seems that the testing and imaging is relied upon more then the H&P.
We spent many hours in a retirement home examining people with known illness to learn what we could expect. Hours listening to heart beats, breathing, feeling abdomens, pulses etc. The final tests were you and a patient with a known abnormality (Mitral stenosis, abdominal abnormality, lost pulses etc.) that you were required to find on your own. We spent lots of time practicing on each other. I don't know if this course is still an important part of medical school because now doctors spend minimum time, no complete history, no real exam but order head to toes imaging to find whats wrong. This is often unnecessary and exposes to radiation and is very expensive. I do think lots of the cost of medicine could be reduced with the use of a complete H&P. Later, in my career, as a Radiologist, I was a beneficiary of these excess tests.
I still was able to enjoy the delights of a young single man in San Francisco. I went to all the bars on Union street, Maidan Lane (Great name), jazz on Fillmore, Sundays afternoon in Zachs in Sausalitio. Many wonderful memories which it would be best to keep to myself.
Between my second and third year I was a fellow in Pathology at San Francisco general hospital. My sponsor was a young pathologist Sam French. A very intense research guy and a good friend. I watched and helped on a number of autopsy cases and was then allowed to do the total autopsy itself. I then recorded the procedure and signed off, just like a real doctor! I did over 20 of these and still have copies of them. It sounds gruesome but we were very involved with medicine and disease discovery and saw the process as a constructive one. In those days autopsies were of great help in learning and the % of them per deaths was high. This is no longer the case.
I thought I wanted to be an Internist. I was fascinated by the endocrine system and the renal functions. I thought of these areas as being my interest. However, once I was on the actual clinics I discovered for every interesting case there were dozens of back pains, unknown stomach cramps and lots of psychosomatic stuff. I became bored and realized the everyday practice of these areas would not be as exciting as I thought.
At this same time I was assigned to the hospital at San Francisco general.WOW! I was now actually going to be a doctor with patients. My first rotation was OB-GYN and I was assigned to go to the delivery room. I arrived and there were numerous cubicles with women in labor and women just finished and women delivering and the action and noise was great. my heart was pounding and a busy nurse said "are you the new student?" "Yes maam". Then go scrub in and get into room 5. I looked around and saw a sink in a small room and immediately began washing my hands (scrubbing in). The same nurse came by and laughed. I was in the janitors closet and not where I was supposed to be. Fortunately I got it together and presented myself to room 5. An intern moved over and said sit down and deliver this baby. Fortunately, the patient had had many children and did not need help but I was there to catch the baby.
There were many many interesting experiences in almost every rotation but soon I began to feel comfortable around patients and began to have confidence in myself. I also became involved in a protest movement against the lack of teaching. My fellow protestor was Mike Laggios, a very outspoken and bright student. Mike later became a professor of pathology at UCSF and was a key researcher in women’s breast disease. We students spent 14 hours a day doing patient care, doing histories and physicals, rotating at night for duty and once a day for 2-3 hours private consultants were to come and review cases and teach us. We were always going to extra trouble to prepare for these. It became obvious that most of the time these "consultants' did not show. They were proud of their assistant Professor at UCSF next to their names since it assured many patients thinking they had to be good to be in that position. Laggios and I, wrote a letter complaining and many others signed it. It got no results. We then sent a copy to our California State representative and an investigation resulted. Many were removed, the head of departments were replaced by doctors from the East coast. The medical school had been taken over by the private sector and were using it as a ploy to compete for patients without full filling their teaching obligations. This action was to damage our chances of a good internship. The good old boys were very mad at we uppity students.
It was during my Junior year that I met the really and truly love of my life. Nancy Steuber was a nurse at St. Marys. I was doing H&P's in the evenings for the surgeons to make some money. I saw her and BING! went the strings of my heart. She was a darling and attractive blonde in a white uniform and seemed to be an angel. I was introduced and hoped to arrange a date. Unfortunately, Nancy had a car accident and actually suffered a skull fracture and went back to St. louis to recover. She was gone and I was unable to get in touch. About 6 months later I dropped into a bar on Union street and saw this very attractive blonde dancing with some guy. I had to meet her. When there was a chance I introduced myself. As we talked we realized that we had met before. Nancy then recalled that she had attended a medical fraternity party in St.louis with a date and she remembers Bill and myself as being on a stage dressed as Romans and with too much alcohol and trying to be funny. She and her date had left soon after. So, here was sort of our third meeting over a few years. It was fate for sure.
I began to try and spend time with her. she was very popular and had dates almost every night. I realized I was going to have to do a major offensive to win her. I borrowed an extra $500 dollars and began my plan. Nancy worked until about 4 and then went to mass. She was, and had been a devout Catholic. I arranged to pick her up after mass and we would go out for a few hours. I would then take her home so she could get ready for her date. I took her to my favorite hangouts including the "Cowgirl Bar" at a pier in SF. We would drink Martinis and get to know each other. Then back to her apartment to let her off. I knew I was making time when it got so I would stay with her until her date could be heard on the stairs. Also, she was sort of but not really engaged to a guy in St. Louis. I had to really focus, and I did. My $500 was helping. The break through was she had a party and, being the sweet and considerate person she is, invited all her "boyfriends". Her Dad warned her that was not wise. I realized that this was a good time to make a strong showing. I would put my arms around her and even give a little kiss on the cheek and tried to monopolize her attention. It seems to have worked because over the next few weeks I began to actually have an evening date with her.
After about 3 months I knew I was totally in love and proposed. She said Yes! However the catholic problem was there. I even promised to go to the catholic church. That was a big sign of my love. Also I was a divorced man and this complicated things. The end result was good. Nancy began to lose faith in organized religion and soon she was not accepting of the doctrine she had grown up with. This was not my doing but a journey by Nancy questioning the dogma. Maybe there is a God. I'm sure if there is he /she is also anti organized Religion.
We were married in a friends apartment in Pacific Heights and a civil judge married us. A great party at our new apartment on Stanyon St., a honeymoon in Montery California and I had to take my surgical notes since I had finals the next week. We were now together and have been ever since. The best decision I ever made. Who you marry is the most determining factor for happiness in your life. Unfortunately we often choose in the heat of lust and miss making a rational decision.
The next big event was going to St.Louis, a cross country drive in a 58 Ford. We arrived and I met Nancys family for the first time. A solid middle class group with lots of relatives. They were amazingly receptive to me and I felt welcomed immediately. Probably they all had faith in Nancys judgement. A wild and raucous party and I had to actually excuse myself at 2 AM since I was exhausted. My friend Bill was still at St. Louis medical and he and I and his girlfriend and Nancy had a week water skiing in the Ozark’s on big lakes.
I began the last year of med school in the fall of 1964. This was mainly clinical rotations and I soon discovered that The everyday patient care medicine was not for me. My father and mother were in Sausalito and my Dad bought a sail boat. We knew nothing about sailing but Dad, myself and a fellow medical student George Flynn, went out. it was a calm and clear day but we still managed to foul up the sails and even broke the rudder. Over the next few weeks we spent more and more time on the boat, repaired it, l learned how to sail and this became a grand relief from the everyday grind of school. Nancy became a great sailor and was always willing and able to help. She was the only one with enough nerve to go up the bosun chair to the top of the mast.
We soon were out in the ocean in 20 foot swells and running with the waves and actually surfing the boat under the Golden Gate bridge. I was overconfident and sailed in some very difficult weather but managed to survive it all. We had a small but unique apartment on Stanyan St. near the medical school. Nancy worked in a private doctors office and I was the full time student. A great year of many friends, trips and parties.
A very disappointing time for me at graduation. I received my MD degree and then we all were to get a internship assignment. These are important and there are a special few that we all sought. I was in the top third of the class and expected a good one. Instead I ended up at a unknown private hospital in St.Louis. I was disappointed and felt the good old boys had caused this. Mike Laggios, in the top 10% also got a nondescript internship. However, Nancy was happy to be able to be with her family and I decided to make the best of it. A long cross country drive and with the help of Nancys' family we were established in an apt next to the hospital. I was so disappointed when I began my service. It was a beautiful and clean hospital in a nice part of St. louis but the medical staff were mainly out of touch , ill informed doctors. I was exposed to one mistake after another and had only a few doctors I respected . While doing my surgery rotation I was so shocked at the ill thought out care and the mistakes that I reported this to the chief. Soon I was a persona non grata and the surgeons were suspicious of me. Rightly so on their part since I was speaking out against things I thought were wrong. I was miserable. I came home one evening and told Nancy we had to leave. This was a big disappointment since she had created a comfortable home, had her family and friends near and barely had time to settle in. I can say, she came through, as always, and recognized that I could not stay on. I look back and marvel at her patience and understanding that she always showed.
Another long cross country drive to San Francisco. I have to admit I was homesick and San Francisco looked so wonderful. It was now August and I was a MD without a internship, a fish out of water. I worked on the boat for a week or two and settled down. I then went in person and applied as an Intern at Pacific Medical center in San Francisco. The chief of Medicine, John Kelly, was a friendly and fine doctor. They were short an intern and I fit right in. I was now in an environment that was comfortable and challenging. It confirmed my actions in St.Louis. This was a real teaching hospital with high quality staff. Nancy was hired as a nurse and we began a fun and interesting year. We met some lifelong friends, renewed our sailing and had a magnificent but small apartment in Twin Peaks with a birds eye view of San Francisco.
I decided I enjoyed Radiology. I applied to Stanford and was accepted. We moved to Palo Alto and lived in an apt next to a pool and near the campus. A beautiful area. Nancy got a job at a Kaiser clinic. The Residency was a good one with outstanding teachers and the best of equipment. I tried hard to meet expectations. I began to sense a lot of political infighting among the doctors on the full time staff. A new chief, Herb Abrams, had taken over from the previous chief, Henry Kaplan. The whole environment changed and a more fearful and tense world was developing in the department. I had some unfortunate experiences with two staff members and they were very much against me. It appears they were overruled by Dr. Kaplan when the positions were filled and perhaps they wanted to correct this mistake. I had many staff who supported me but the difficulties with these two were hard to take.
I decided that the atmosphere was too difficult and applied elsewhere. I was accepted at Colorado but we both wanted to stay in the Bay area. I went to the county hospital in Oakland. This was a wild and wooly hospital with all kinds of trauma , disease and any and all pathology. The staff was adequate but you were somewhat on your own. I had a excellent group of residents who were very good at teaching and sharing. We were a team and learned alot.
I was able to visit other programs in the bay area who had experts in various fields and took advantage of this. Nancy became pregnant and darling son Kevin born May 11 1967. He was born while I was at Stanford at the Palo Alto-Stanford hospital. Nancy had swam during the pregnancy and was very trim and only gained about 20 lbs. She was swimming when labor began.She looked tired but beautiful on the mothers day kevin was born. He looked like a cute onion when I first saw him.
While in Alameda Nancy and I became very concerned about the war in Viet Nam. Many were being killed and the US was divided about this war. As usual it continued regardless. I thought there was no good reason to be in this war and joined the anti war protesters in Berkeley. Nancy and I were very active and led groups to protest. I actually was interviewed for a news show with Kevin on my back in a backpack. Many of my friends were pro war and we had vigorous disagreements. I met Gene McCarthy who was running for president on a pro peace platform. I met Robert Kennedy at the airport on a visit and was able to express my antiwar beliefs. The war went on but so did we.
I had received a deferment for the draft to finish my training, and in 1969 I was almost done. I received orders for duty in Korea. This was something I did not want to do. Nancy had one seizure and was on medications (from her earlier car accident) and we were able to use this hardship to avoid Korea. We were given orders to Kentucky. We had a few months between my Residency and the Army. We spent a month in Tahoe (no snow though), I worked part time in an office in Los Gatos and we lived for 2 months in a wonderful mountain area near Santa Cruz, Redwood Estates.
I bought a used Ford wagon,we loaded it up and did another cross country drive. We arrived in Fort Knox Kentucky July 4 and there was no one to check us in. We got a motel and that Monday I went to the base. No housing , so off to the bachelors quarters for Major and Mrs. Head and son. A week later transfer to a community house with other families and finally our own half of a duplex in the officers housing.
Nancy immediately enrolled in a English Riding class with an ex calvary colonel who thought the women students were soldiers. She had a rough time and actually was bought into my hospital for Xrays after a fall. No injuries but she gave up the class. We both enrolled in a pottery class and loved it. We learned to make jewelry and took advantage of all the great craft classes. Nancy was a part time nurse helper in the psychiatric ward and was saddened by all the young soldiers whose lives and minds were injured by the war. We met some new friends and we bound together. Rob and Sue Parks and son Toby were from California and semi hippies . Rob had graduated Cal Dental and was very anti Army and anti Viet Nam. He eventually was released with a CO discharge. He and Sue went back to Berkeley but were to join us later in Fortuna.
Don and Edna Cornforth were Adventists and Don was one of the most optimistic "Lets just do it" guys I have ever met. He had a house built on a private Lake near the base and lived right on the lake. Nancy and I spent many wonderful days swimming and boating with them. Don later established a Radiology practice in Colorado, started a chain of mexican food products, bought a large retirement home in Denver, spent 2 years in a hospital in Saudi Arabia as a Radiologist, established a big Radiology group in Bakersfield Ca. and started a medical insurance company and is still probably doing something new.
We got interested in all the old antique oak furniture available in Kentucky. People were buying Sears and getting rid of the most wonderful old things so we were able to get a collection. 6000 pounds were moved back to California when we left.
Don and I started a "free clinic" in Louisville for people without medical service. We went two evenings a week and Nancy and Edna were the nurses. Various drug salesmen gave us lots of samples which we were able to give for free. This was regular patient care medicine, not Radiology. I had done lots of clinical work at night when I was in my Radiology training and felt comfortable doing this. We handled every day problems and lots of pre natal and pediatric care. A very rewarding experience.
I arranged a number of part time jobs for myself and some fellow staff Radiologists in small towns in Kentucky. We would rotate days and go to the hospitals for the full day and do the Radiology needed. This paid well and I was able to save over $15,000 which was like $100,000 today. I would leave the base in my Majors uniform and stop at a gas station and change clothes on the way-Super doc. This money enabled me to buy a beautiful piece of property in Northern Calif when I was discharged.
We had a very close call that would have changed our lives. When we came back to the base after a trip to California I had orders for Viet Nam on my desk. I was supposed to get to Viet Nam within a week. I went to see the commanding officer of the hospital, Col.Joyce. He was a small , hard man who was a career soldier rather then a doctor. However, he knew my strong anti war beliefs and knew I had been involved with these for years. He respected this and also knew that I had been important in organizing the Radiology Department and was running an efficient department. I told him I would refuse to go and Nancy and I and kevin would go North to Canada instead. He knew all of us and had been to my house for dinner on some occasions. This could have been a serious turning point in our lives. Col. Joyce was able to keep me from going and reversed the orders. I will always appreciate that.
We were surrounded by regular career officers in our housing area. They had serious drinking parties and even played Sousa marches as background music. They told horrible stories about the damage they did to the "gooks' and wanted us to "nuke em". They knew my views so really laid it on. Neighbors from HELL. We managed to survive this group and were even able to maintain some normal social interactions.
I had a technician in one of my small hospitals in Glasgow Kentucky. His grand pa had grown Hemp during the war and he wondered if I could get him some seeds. Sure, I said, and bought some seeds from California. They were planted in a Tobacco field and by mid summer the "grass" plants were 12 feet tall. We harvested them in the fall and I had a large garbage bag full of only the tops of these plants, Joe and Granpa had the rest. I was able to use this stash to help promote many things on the base since many young officers (not regular army) were in charge of accounting, recreation, groceries etc. They were very grateful for my giving them some "smoke" and we were able to get some good benefits. Looking back it was a dumb thing to do but seemed reasonable at the time.(Like a lot of lifes experiences).
I was also a member of a large number of Army officers who signed petitions against the war. I helped in counseling soldiers about becoming conscientious objectors and all of this caused me to be under careful watch by the Army.
Even though I took all of these dangerous decisions I was able to be discharged on time without trouble. I look upon this time with mixed feelings. I put myself at great jepordy but I still feel that I did the right thing in protesting a wasteful and unnecessary war. History has shown my decision to be correct but the risk was great.
After the Army I felt like I was just starting my life. All of my previous years were under the control of schools and training and the Army. I was now open to my own choices. I toyed with the idea of sailing around the world, or traveling from one place to another working part time. I arrived at a decision that was unique and yet practical. I decided that lifes most precious gift was our time on this earth. I did not want to spend my precious early years working all the time. Yet, I had a profession that required a diligent and steady attention. I also wanted to have a big piece of property but did not want to slave for it. I wanted an extended family idea for the benefit of my family and the ability to travel while young but have my son well cared for. All of this led me to a area in northern California, Fortuna. I had found a small local hospital that severed about 30,000 and was in a very beautiful area with large Redwood forests and near the ocean. This was in 1972 and the "Hippy" back to the land was the life style idea of the moment. I had the vision of a beautiful land site, a group of like minded folks and a satisfying hospital job to practice my profession. We drove to Fortuna. On the way we stopped in the Southwest and visited various native American places.
Arriving in Fortuna we were lucky to find a gorgeous piece of property that was up for sale. This was a 70 acre valley surrounded by Redwood forests. Fields of flowers and fruit orchards and old houses yet near the hospital and town. It was a dream come true. I was able to buy it with the money I had earned and saved. We camped out at the River for a few days until we were able to arrange the purchase. I had made arrangements with Gary and Lynn Baker, a couple we met in the Army to join us. Gary had one more year at Cal SF to finish his Radiology training and then they would join us. An older farm house next to ours was to be theirs. Also, Rob and Sue Parks who we also met in the army wanted to join us in this adventure. Rob was a dentist and would open a practice here.
Everything was great. We inherited cattle from the old tenants. This was another new world opening to us. We had chickens and goats and geese and rabbits. We were immersed in the idea of the rural life. Luck brought us 3 young guys traveling our way and wanting to go to Humboldt state University, near us. One was Lynn Bakers brother and the other were Merritt and John. They brought a great level of energy and skill and we did a lot of remodeling, building of new structures, fences for the cattle and redid a old Barn for them to live in while going to school. There were wonderful times of soccer in the pastures, beach parties on the rugged coast line, great parties in the pasture with Bluegrass music, large farm style lunches by Nancy for all of we workers. We had a great English sheep dog, Amazing Grace, or Gracie that we had acquired in Louisville before we left the Army. She was the community dog and loved by all.We had also acquired many pieces of old oak farm furniture, stained glass, clocks etc. in Kentucky. We were able to furnish our remolded farm house with these items and the house was a real home.
Later, Nancy became active in weaving and learned how to shear sheep, cart and spin wool and make clothes. We bought sheep and replaced the cattle. We had a herd of about 15 sheep for years. Nancy later began to paint and I did pottery and we converted an old storage shed into a studio. We met many interesting people through her art association. Making Art was a passion with her and a outlet for me with the demands of medical decisions each day. We had a lovable sheep dog , Amazing grace, for many years, she was a part of our lives.
The difficult part of this new life was the caliber of medicine I was now a part of. This small rural area , like many at the time, was very backward with older poorly trained doctors. They did things they were not qualified to do and the many mistakes I saw caused me to act. Our hospital was a catholic one but part of a much larger organization with other larger and better hospitals. I became friends with the hospital administrator, sister mary Alma, a REAL christian lady. She also saw the many errors and inadequacies of these doctors. Together we decided that we needed to improve and change things for the safety of the community. It was a long and often unpleasant time that actually lasted over 5 years. I was under great pressure from the local doctors to leave and sister was threatened with loss of patients. However, in the end we recruited a whole new group of well trained specialists and had new buildings built and new ICU and Surgery suites and Emergency and up to date Radiology so that it became a very good and functional hospital. The level of care was excellent and many surgeries and other procedures were now possible. We brought in the first Ultrasound and CT capability to the area. We had Radioisotopes and MRI later and a very good mammogram service. I honestly think that my 5 years of effort accomplished one of the most significant things I have ever done in my life. The changes have improved the lives of many for the past 40 years.
Nancy and I and Kevin enjoyed our lives on the farm. It was called "Turkey Productions" since none of us were farmers or builders yet we did all these things. We joked it was a Turkey job and the name stuck. We backpacked in the mountains near us, had wonderful beach parties and played football and flew kites. Kevin became a outstanding musician and was playing a banjo with his instructor in a bluegrass band when he was 12. He became a cross country runner and built up his grandmothers mercury cougar to be the best car at the high school. We were very much the extended family with the Parks and Bakers. Toby Parks, Jennifer baker, Brent Baker and Kevin were like brothers and sisters.The kids were at home with all the families and thanksgiving and Christmases were usually done together in the big remodeled Barn on the property. Dinners for 20 or more with music and lots of fun went on for decades. All the grandparents would join us. Summer parties in the pastures after haying with many families, volleyball, bluegrass music were a tradition. We did lots of high mountain backpacking into the trinity mountains.
In 1985 Kevin graduated and went to Sacramento state for college. This really did leave a "empty nest" type feeling for Nancy and I. it was very difficult for Nancy, and therefore for me too. It was a tough couple of years while we readjusted to a new life and moved on.
I was asked to lead a small group of experts on cancer care to investigate the claims of a Russian group about a so called cancer cure process. I had a Doctor from Stanford Radiology Treatment and a Physics expert from Duke with me. We flew to Moscow and stayed 10 days. The "cure' was a sham but I had a marvelous adventure in Moscow with a personal guide who took me everywhere. One thing I noted was that the Russians were told we US people were the dangerous war mongers and Salin kept them safe. We were told the same thing about the Russians by our government. Total misunderstanding and fear on both sides. The ways governments control.
Nancy and I have been able to travel to Mexico, China, England, Germany, France, Switzerland, Canada , Italy, Hungry, Holland as well as many US cities. Nancy, with her friends, has had wonderful travels to Africa, India. and Burma.
I decided we needed other things to experience and got a part time job in Aspen Colorado. Aspen was a "Rich mans " playground and was nicer in the summer then the winter. I worked a few weeks on and off at the hospital and we bought a wonderful apartment in an old Victorian styled building. It was small but overlooked the Roaring Fork river and a view to Red mountain. It was an easy walk to downtown and to the Aspen Mountain ski area. We did a slight remodel and Nancy did a trip to Denver where she made a friend at a very upscale furniture store and we were able to outfit our apartment in very special furnishings. We added Nancys art to the walls and we were doing our Aspen thing. Nancy was active in the Anderson Art ranch each summer and made many friends. Many of these were married to very wealthy men (beyond millionaires) and we had a whole new social group. Fishing, horseback riding, hiking the high mountains, biking and of course lots of winter skiing. Kevin and friends from college joined us and they were a wild and crazy group. Ski all day. Power nap till 8 , then out to 2AM.
Myself and a group of friends in our Aspen Ski Club.
A group of friends and I had been going to Aspen for years and I knew the place well. I found that the summer was even better to be in Aspen. However, after a few years the town became more and more crowded with cars and tourists and the novelty was wearing off. We sold our place and put the money into building Nancys dream art studio in Fortuna. This beautiful studio was done by a family of contractors and Nancy was the architect and it is a wonderful space. She spent many hours and did lots of Art. I added a pottery studio and did pottery and we had friends join us for Art weeks during the summer. Nancy became active in art groups in the area and we met many new and interesting people.
Kevin finished Sacramento State college and was somewhat at a loss as to what he wanted to do. Fortunately, we were able to help him get interested in getting into Pasadena Art Center and he loved the world of graphic art. He has a strong talent for this and with his computer skills did excell. He hated Pasadena but learned a lot. He came back to San Francisco in the mid 1990s and began his career. He is able to work at home and has many satisfied clients. He has a supportive wife and two precious daughters and a loyal dog, Arlo.
I now had a third partner in the practice and was working 1/3 time. Due to the prices of rentals in San Francisco we decided it would be wise to buy a place and have Kevins rent money go towards a mortgage. We were lucky to find a old , large Edwardian type place with 2 floors and a possible third and fourth' It was in the Mission area and was just starting to be a place people wanted to move to. We bought it at a very reasonable price, spent many hours and dollars remodeling it and enjoyed it for 7 years. We sold it at the peak of the housing bubble and made a very good profit. Meanwhile, Kevin and Sarah found a "fixer upper" in the special place of Mill Valley in Marin county. The money from the sale allowed him to purchase a charming but run down place in the forest of Mill Valley hills. He spent lots of energy and brought this place back to a good condition.
Nancy and I loved this area and it was very much like our feeling we had in Fortuna with the trees and a small town feeling. We were able to "roll over' our profits from San Francisco and we purchased a "fixer upper' in Mill Valley. There were more things to fix then we thought including a hillside slide but after lots of hard work we have a delightful place near Kevin and near our two special granddaughters. Bradley had married and had 3 wonderful children. A daughter Jennifer, who has graduated from Michigan University and onto UCLA Law school,, a son Ethan who is a top of the line football place kick er and is at Cal Berkeley and a daughter Rachel also at Cal .. Five great grandchildren to be proud of. At this time the success of my family and my relationship to them is really the top priority. We often lose this idea when we are young and so full of ourselves.
We still own our Fortuna property and rent it out. We have found that our main residence is Mill Valley.
In 2005 I retired after 33 years of my Radiology practice and entered into a new phase of life. We are very happy.
Just recently (2015) , I received a very rewarding article from the Eureka Ca newspaper that was written by a young man I knew years ago. I am pleased to think that I was able to reach out and help another person with life's direction.
Some things I might wish I had done differently include:
Pay more attention to the world around me and open myself to new ideas.
Work harder in school and all intellectual things.
See more art, music , dance as early as possible.
Be less critical and more open and accepting of other ideas.
Be aware of your actions on other people, threat them with kindness and respect.
Learn to get along with others with cooperation rather then confrontation.
Be a better listener.
Be careful with what you say, you will be judged by this and it may cause unnecessary pain to others.
Have more exercise on a regular basis.
Be wise about my diet.
When doing anything, devote my full attention to it.
Be more accepting of authority and less combative.
Be more active politically and aware of what is going on.
Be more aware of the fears and stresses of my patients.
Listen to those I respect and incorporate some of their advice.
Start a reasonable but conservative savings program early and stay with it.
Spend less time in my earlier life drinking and partying and do more constructive things with my precious youth.
Be aware that many small things are not important and learn to let them go.
Don"t take so many things personal. Be aware that many people act out to you because of their own problems, not you.
Understand that who you chose as a life partner is probably the most important decision you will make.
Follow more often My mantra of " Discipline and Patience".
Always try things and don't get trapped at whether you will be perfect doing them. Fear of not being perfect, or failing, will restrict your life.
Don't try to change others , you are the only one that you might have success with
Most of Life's stresses are not the events, but your reaction to them
Rather then react to a statement or comment by another ask yourself is it really important that you disagree? will it make a difference? If not let it go. Saves a lot of stress.
Looking back I can review my life's path.
Graduated high School and passed the college entrance tests to go to a good College UCLA.
Graduated UCLA in biology and premed.
Worked a year with Upjohn to get medical school costs,
Went to Medical school at St Louis and UCSF.
Internship at Pacific medical center SF.
Radiology at Stanford and Alameda county hospital.
Board Certification tests passed. Army as a major 2 years.
Private practice in Fortuna 33 years. Also, various local stops at different hospitals in Colorado, Arizona and California.
Wrote two informative blogs on the internet that opened ideas for many
Retired to a beautiful area Marin County.
I know little about my parents families. It was one of the many things not discussed. This was probably due to the somewhat painful lives they had as children. Mother was one of two, she had an older sister Helen. Born in a small town in Georgia she was orphaned at an early age. Her father died of a stroke and mother of cancer. She does remember her mother as a loving and intelligent person who was well thought of. She went to a good school and lived happily until their death.
Some property, which included a hotel, was left but relatives arrived and took everything with any value. The girls were sent to Atlanta to live with an Aunt. My Mother remembers Atlanta as a lively beautiful place. She finished high school with honors and continued on to a business school.
She met my dad in Atlanta. Mother died at age 86 and had dementia..
My Father was raised in Georgia and had one brother, Jim. Dads Mother was part Cherokee and had been married but lost her husband during the First World War. She married his brother and had my Father. My Dad had an opportunity for a good education but was more interested in having fun all the time. He was a big, handsome, gregarious and likable guy. It is strange that they got together since Mother was very reserved, completely different from my Father. My father died of a heart attack at the young age of 52.
I have seen pictures of me as a small boy with long blonde curls to my shoulders and a black scottie dog. I have no memories of an unpleasant childhood and was well cared for and loved. There are pictures of me with my grandfather, a tall thin bald man who appears to enjoy me. He died from a fall from an apple tree.
PICTURE TIME
My good friend and I age 11
My self and the middle school basketball team 1950's
Me and a friend in the 1939 time.
Dad joined the Navy about the time of WWII and mother and I lived in Miami Florida in an apartment house. I am pictured as a small boy dressed in a sailors uniform with a doting mother next to me. I don't remember much of my father since he was gone most of the time.
I remember my first time at school where I immediately got into trouble. I refused to line up for a coat (since I did not wear a coat.) Evidentially that did not matter since the lining up when told was the important thing. This trait of bucking authority was to be mine forever.
My sister Peggy was born when I was 4. I was sent to a "home" for 4 days and it was a traumatic time. I missed my mother and would not eat and even bit a glass and cut my mouth. It was my first remembered trauma. I guess I adjusted to my sister although I think it was hard to share Mother with her. Miami had hurricanes and I remember the huge winds and the people at the apartment all in one area. I thought it a big party with lots of treats.
My dad was absent until I was about 5 or 6. He was in the Navy and fought in WW2. He had difficult experiences with ships sunk and friends killed. We then moved to San Diego Calif. I had visions of the wild west with cowboys and Indians so I wore my Roy Rogers Pajamas as a cowboy suit. I had a toy gun and holster. The train trip took several days.
We lived in a Navy Housing project in San Diego and I went to Silver bluff school. I was a good but somewhat underachieving student. I remember taking the side of black students who were picked on by many of the white students. I had a tall black girl as my maypole dance partner and had to fight with some other boys because of it. I remember having concern about the unfairness of how I thought some were treated. There was an isolated creek with lots of tall reeds and plant growth near our house. I spent many hours there enjoying the natural surroundings and marveled at the many Monarch butterflies that had cocoons and then matured into beautiful creatures.
I was constantly on my bike riding throughout the project, organizing neighborhood ball teams and dramas. I would play play until dark. Sometimes at dusk we would all play kick the can and hide and delight in the excitement of racing for home. This was when I got my first Schwinn bike for Xmas, a wonderful shiny green and white bike that I would spend hours riding which gave me a great amount of freedom.
I met my friend Jon Shannon along with his brother Dennis when I was eight. We would spend Saturday afternoons walking to the National theatre to see an ongoing serial and the movie of the week. Afterwards, we would come home and act it out with costumes, wooden swords and all. Jon and I loved the leading roles and Dennis did not mind just fitting into any part provided. Years later (50) Jon and I were to meet again and renew our friendship.
My world was again changed when we moved to Bellingham Washington. I remember the car ride with me next to my dad with all the maps out and tracking and marking our route. In those days there were no super highways and you drove through all the little towns and stops. This took more time but it was a great adventure. My mother, sister and my aunt Helen were in the back seat.
Bellingham was a new world to me. The rugged Northwest with rain and snow and rivers full of fish.
I rode my bike through forests, watched salmon spawn and trout jump. Sadly, I also killed my first bird. I made a slingshot and became very proficient. One day, without a thought, I saw a beautiful Robin on a branch and shot him. I ran over and saw blood all over his red breast and his eyes fluttering shut. I can't describe the despair I felt and the sadness that overtook me. It has been part of me since.
I had a wonderful dog named Lady, but lady liked to kill chickens and no matter what punishment I did she could not overcome her nature. It was so sad but we had to take her to a place where she could not be a bird dog. My Dad had the job of dealing with this. I did well in school and was considered an excellent student but my report always showed me to be a discipline problem. My excitement and my antiauthority attitude was always present making me difficult to contain. My father and I would take a Landing Ship boat (the kind they used to unload marines on beaches) in the beautiful Puget Sound and use shiny tin can lids with hooks to attract Salmon. We always caught our limits. The rivers were filled with salmon in the fall as they came to spawn.
I spent many hours playing baseball and became an adequate second baseman. I could bat fairly well but once on base I could steal (probably due to the unskilled catchers). Baseball was a chance to find a part of myself, develop confidence and learn to be part of a team. I think the absence of parents being involved allowed we kids to work out our own plans and deal with disagreements ourselves. This was a great experience.
As a boy scout I was a failure. I just did not fit into the discipline they wanted and thought the merit badge work boring. My first and last camp trip was a disaster. My loving aunt and mother packed my bag with food for a month. Mostly canned foods (heavy items) and a sleeping bag. I made it about 20 minutes and had to turn back. I was mortified and thus ended my scout career.
Next, we were on the move again back to San Diego. We lived in Navy housing and I started a new school. By this time I had been in a number of schools but was relaxed about it. I found there was always a "pecking" order and to change it took some nerve, boldness and confidence. I did not lack for any of these. I was always able to establish myself.
I went to Horace Mann Jr. High. I loved to play basketball and spent hours practicing and I met a new friend, Carmen Scozzafava. Yes, a mature looking accordion playing Italian boy with a father who made gallons of wine. We became close friends and went everywhere together. We built our own basketball court on a slanted hill and became very skilled at dribbling. I developed a jump shot since Carmen was taller. We chased girls, rode bikes everywhere and worked on weekends at the first Jack In The Box in San Diego. I fell in love with a cute gal named "Punky". I would moon around to be near her, wrote love notes and made phone calls. She was interested in another friend, Joe Cottrell, unfortunately not me. My first heartbreak (of many).
Since we lived in San Diego many days were spent hitch hiking on Mission Valley road to the old Mission beach. Girls and surf and cold beer! Little did I know that those hours in the sun would give me various skin cancers in later life. A life's lesson, stay away from direct sun exposure.
High School was a new and challenging experience. I went to Hoover High and it was a school of about 1000. A large high school for the time. Many junior high students were sent here so a whole new large group had to be met and figured out. I was able to establish lots of friends and enlarged my group. There was a social club called the "Beaux Espirits" which was the group to belong to . They were the popular guys and had the girls. You had to be invited to join and they only asked 3-4 freshmen each year. It was a major honor to be asked. I never was sure what made you eligible but I was asked along with two of my new friends Gene Emery (Emo) and Gary Cook. We were ecstatic when the invitation was given. The initiation consisted of having a good hard swat on the butt by each of the 30 or so members. You met in a garage and the members hooted and yelled as you took your swats. I made the mistake of telling Emo that I had padded my underwear. It was Emo's nature to not be trustworthy (as I was often to find out) and he told. WOW did I get whacked with no protection. It must have seemed worth it at the time.
After becoming a member for a year I realized that most of the club members were not that great and were actually boring. I was unable to change anything and decided to form a brand new club. The first time this had been done at Hoover. I met with what I thought were the "coolest" guys and presented my idea. They were in agreement so we started a club called the "De Novas" which means something new from something old. I designed a necklace with a silver frame and a small tourquoise stone.
The old club members were furious and we had very hard feelings from then on. To add to their insult all of the new "coolest" guys chose to join our club, the girls thought we were "cooler" and our parties were the must go to parties. We met girls from other schools and would arrange parties with them. Soon, the other club guys were after us. Since I was the president and had started the club, I was a major target. My car was vandalized, I had at least 2 scheduled fights after school each week and was now disliked by some of the coaches since we were attracting some of their athletes to the club. You could get more dates as a club member then breaking your bones playing football.
The Fairmont drive in was the hang out spot. You showed off your car, hustled girls and arranged parties. The waitresses actually wore short skirts and carried out the food in trays and placed it on the open drivers window. The hot Chuck Berry and Fats Domino songs were playing and all radios tuned in to "Wolfman Jack". Our dates were often for the movie drive in. You had two people in the car seats pay to go into the movie and had two more in the trunk. Of course Kissey, kissey and discovering girls was the main reason and few movies were seen.
I also decided to run for the high school office "Commissioner of Culture". This was a good position and allowed me to plan almost all school events and work closely with all the cute cheerleaders. My sign said "Everyone needs Dick Head". It created a controversy but was a big hit.
One of the lucky things I did was to meet people from the Red Cross. They liked my attitude and felt that I was a good public speaker and leader. They allowed me to do many things I would never have experienced and the most memorable was a cross country train trip through Chicago, Washington and New York with a summer on a beautiful campus in Canada. I was able to meet and get to know numbers of outstanding students from all over the world which I could never have afforded without their support.
One memory is my getting on the train from San Diego to Los Angeles then taking a bus to the LA colliseum where I watched the LA Rams. Bob Waterfield was quarterback and "Crazy Legs" Hirsch was the receiver. A great day for me.
Balboa Week in Southern Calif is a big event. Everybody goes to Balboa, rents a motel, gets kegs of beer, lays on the beach, hustles girls and Party party all the time. We all went as a group about 4 to a car and perhaps 10 cars. My car was a 56 ford with two tone black and white paint, white leather seat covers from Mexico, lowered so it rode like a truck but looked way cool. Two pair of large black and white dice hung from the mirror. My hair was in a stylish ducktail, white T and jeans rolled up at the cuffs. penny loafers and white socks. Way cool. Besides the motel parties with kids from all over we would dress up in shirt and tie and go to the Balboa ballroom, a huge dance place on the beach. Big bands like Woody Herman, and others would play. We would slow dance or "jitterbug" until 2. Then back to the motel and beach for party time. Pictures show us with weight loss, baggy red eyes and total exhaustion as we left. But everyone smiling big.
My true love in High school was a cheerleader and Hawaian dancer Linda Taylor. She was a total knockout and I could not stay away. My rival was a football player and he and I had no love for one another even though we were both in the same club. Linda did marry Terry and they had a daughter who went on to be a movie star Twana Kitaen.
Although I was not poor we had minimum resources. I did lots of jobs to support my dating, car and any expenses. My parents could feed me and offer a comfortable home but had little left over. I recognized this and was appreciative of what they gave me. I accepted that if I were to want more I had to earn it. I worked on a landscape crew with many hispanics, hot tough work. I was a cook in the Jack in the box, worked after school as a janitor cleaning restrooms, had a number of lawn upkeep jobs, did odd jobs like painting or digging, worked in a clothing store, and worked as a door to door salesman. Besides learning many things I also realized I had a lot of ambition.
The sales job was a life lesson. My boss was a crusty old guy from New York who smoked cigars and drove a red cadillac. I was selling Golden West pots and pans. Being young and presentable (I wore a cheap suit) I got appointments. I had a well rehearsed sales pitch and would spread all the cook ware out on a purple velvet cloth and do my pitch. I was actually very good and sold a number of sets but good old Mr.Lundy only paid me for a few. This job gave me confidence, social skills and taught me to think on my feet. It also left me with a life lesson. One day, when I had one too many doors slammed in my face I told Lundy I was discouraged. He replied "Boy, only 50% of people in this world will like you or anyone, you need to find those 50% and sell em'"
I also was planning on college. Early in my life I had decided to become a doctor. Knowing what I wanted to do was a help getting me started. A lot of this was my mothers influence but I also had a strong ambition to be something special. I always thought I could be special but I knew most people did. The difference was the ones who acted to make this happen. I took College prep classes and achieved good grades. I was a serious student and teachers liked me. I did lots of school activities and was a speaker at many clubs. All of this helped me get into UCLA.
My mother supported me the whole way. She was the glue that held things together. Unfortunately her life was not all joy. My lovable , irresponsible father was seldom around. He had a "girl in every port" loved to party and drank to excess. He was fun to be with and gave me love and help when he was around. I spent lots of time away from home and did not realize all the pain and suffering my mother had. Unfortunately. Peggy being younger and dependent on mother and dad also picked up some anxiety and distress that interfered with her life. I was oblivious to all this. I was wrapped up with myself. I feel sad that I was not more aware. A problem with being young is that you are wrapped up in yourself.
Finally, June 1956, Graduation. I was living in a temporary housing in the Navy project at the time. Converted quonset huts. I remember going out my door with all the neighbors hanging wash and kids playing, with my white tuxedo on and a big flower for my date. I stepped into my 56 Ford and off to pick up my date. We doubled with Carmen and went to a very chic restaurant in La Jolla that actually was built onto rocks that were almost in the ocean. Waves splashed against the windows. Then onto a dance with the guys in Tux and the girls in full on evening gowns.
Later, that same night we drove to the dessert , Borregia Springs, to stay at a resort with pools and bars and lots of hideouts. The girls had their own rooms and we had chaperons. My dad was a chaperon and I had a message from the bar to come get him since he was drunk. I became the chaperon.
I went home and immediately packed and drove off to Lake Arrowhead where the Red Cross had given me a summer job as a camp supervisor. A great wonderful carefree summer where I met some outstanding young people on their way to college. Towards the end of the summer I had another offer for a job in LA.This was a older couple who lived in the Hollywood hills. One of the people I met at camp was a hispanic from East LA. I became friends and visited him at his house. It was strange since almost no "white" people ever visited this area. I was a curiosity and actually was somewhat guarded by my friend from possible danger. It showed me the tremendous difference in opportunities in our society.
It also made me appreciate that the state Government funded our excellent Colleges and Universities. Myself and many other lower income families could never have had the opportunity to receive a quality education. This has been lost since the funding has been cut to minimum levels.
This couple were older, in their 70's , and were very interesting. She was a wealthy lady and granddaughter to the Huntington family. Her husband was Scottish and had been a ambassador to Germany before the war. He had met Hitler and his whole group of thugs and was with Chamberlain when he signed over Europe to Hitler. Many wonderful stories were told as I would drive him around the Hollywood hills in a big Lincoln as he told me of his adventures. I lived in a actual round tiled turrent with a 380 degree view of LA. I painted watercolors in the garden as he sat and talked. I would walk his two full sized poodles. At night I would put on a coat and tie (a scot plaid coat he bought for me) and the 3 of us would have a 5 course dinner served by a maid. The dining room was beautiful handcrafted wood and terra cotta tiles. I seemed thin to him so he insisted I drink high caloric drinks. The conversations of the two were fascinating to me and introduced me to a lifestyle I had never seen. After 6 weeks he was very ill with cancer and I was with him when he died. I was very disturbed since he and I had grown close and he introduced me to so much.
Next I arrived at Westwood and UCLA. At that time it was a big school of 15,000 and parking was impossible even then. The first week was "Rush" week by the fraternities. A week of nonstop wild parties. You went to each fraternity house and were told of all the cool and special things being in the house would allow you. They in turn would pass judgement as to whether you were worthy of them. I was lucky to have many offers to join and decided to be a Beta Theta Pi. This was a great honor I thought because it was considered THE house and had many great guys. Fortunately I could not afford to live in the house and got an apartment. This probably saved me from poor grades and a diseased liver. I moved into an apartment with a new friend George Francis. I worked at Ralphs market in Westwood a few hours each week, and spent the rest of my time dealing with the overwhelming demand of a premed college curriculum. At that time no computers and I had to learn to do math with a slide rule, advanced algebra and other demands I had not prepared for. The campus was so big it was hard to get to classes on time. Chemistry , zoology , physics, french, art history all demanding and worth 17 units of credit. I needed to get at least a 3 point (out of 4) to be competitive for medical school acceptance. I tried the military programs but dropped out immediately due to the demands they made which I thought stupid.
I became a very close friend with Bob Troxler, a local boy who was a high school football player. He was one of the most unusual people I ever met. Brilliant (eventually became a biochemistry teacher in Boston) but a true wild man. He studied hard and played harder. I tried to keep up and did a good job but it did hurt my studies. He introduced me to some others and we became a legend in our own minds called the "Rasty 5". I am embarrassed to think of the wild things and risks we took. I survived this impulsive time and made it onto the upper division.
I soon realized I had to make a decision whether I wanted to be a Frat boy or a student. Also, I had to find a more serious group of friends.
I met a more laid back group of guys in another fraternity and decided to hang out with them. They were fun but not the wild impulsive guys I had been part of. My friend George Francis was the son of a judge in Newport Beach Ca and was a bartender during the summer. He told me of the fun and games and many girls available. I decided I would become a lifeguard, why not? I began to swim laps in the olympic sized pool at UCLA during my lunch time. At first I was exhausted after 2 laps.Soon I was swimming over 20 with ease. I realized the pool was not the ocean so I went to Malibu one late after noon and tried to swim around the pier. This was a disaster since I got washed into the pilings by forceful waves and was cut by barnacles, bruised and barely got out. A wake up call. I spent time surfing at late evening and swimming more distance. My studies made me not have the time I needed but I was Mr. Confidence.
February 1957 and time to go to Newport for the test to see if I could qualify. George drove and I studied. We arrived and the beach was cold at 58 degrees and a fog was present. The water was 60 or below. There were over 100 candidates and almost all were from the swim teams at UCLA, USC, Stanford etc. Lean muscular guys who swam many miles each week and were in top shape. I did not let this discourage me, since I thought I could at least get one of the spots. The first event was 4 at a time running 400 yards then into the surf out about 1/4 mile and back and then race to the finish. Timing was key. I finished but was hypothermic and went immediately to the car with blankets and then hot tea and George telling me how tough I was. Next we had to go in the water again and swim 1 mile in less then 18 minutes and end under the pier. I don't know how I had the fortitude to even get in the water but made the swim just under the time limit. Then it was to jump off the pier (about 3 stories high) into the water. The jump had to be timed with a incoming wave for water depth. I was afraid of this height and asked the guy behind me to give me a shove when I said "now". It worked and I made it. There were other tests over the weekend but I did finish them all. The result was I was on the alternate list, which considering the competition was a victory. Before the summer I was told I did have a position. School ended and I arrived in Newport beach as a bonifide California dreaming lifeguard!
George was excited and introduced me to all the good looking waitresses and ladies he met at the bar. George was a very smooth guy for his age. I met my fellow lifeguards most of whom were from other California schools. We hung out at a beach front bar called Blackie's.. Lots of pool, smoked salmon, crackers and cold cold beer. It was the hang out for the lifeguards each afternoon about 6. Many local girls would show up and parties would be arranged. I was staying with George and his dad but met a fellow lifeguard Dean Stokesberry. He was a quiet and thoughtful fellow and his dad had a very large beach house built during the 1920s'. It was right on the beach at 12th St. I was one of about 12 life guards that moved in. We had a big open porch that was 300 yards from the surf and we had lights to shine at night to surf. Big beach fires, lots of food and cold kegs with music from the house. It was the California experience. Breakfast was cooked on a big open outside grill and was shared by all.
Even though I was guarding on the back bay I had great adventures with the people who rented houses for the summer. I had a navy gray Nash Rambler convertable and all the kids would pile on at 6 and I would drive them slowly around the neighborhood and their mothers would wave and shout to come in for a drink. Soon myself and other guards were getting Bar B Q and gin drinks and lots of attention. I was so dark I was beyond tan and my hair was bleached to white. I usually wore a lifeguard jacket and shorts, totally faded, and sandals. This was my attire all summer. At the end of the season a group of 6 or so were to fly to Hawaii and then Tahiti then Australia and who knows where to surf. That was the coming of age quest in those days. I was sorely tempted but knew I might never finish school and have a medical career so I passed. Another important life decision we are all faced with It is these decisions that determine our lives.
I had some interesting experiences while at UCLA. Among them was getting a part time job at the end of one summer as a driver in Hollywood. I would drive a van or bus to locations where TV shows were shot. My stars included Ozzie and Harriet and David and Rickey Nelson. Hoggie Carmichael and Robert Montgomery. I also dated a girl, Dale Rosenthal, whose father was a producer. One afternoon I was picking her up in a grand mansion in Bel Air and sitting at the downstairs at a bar like room and sitting at this bar was Zaza Gabor and Ava Gardner and I got to meet them.
I realized that I had to become more serious as a student and saw the many outstanding students I was competing with. Many were smarter so I had to work harder. My great asset was in being able to organize myself and I had a system of constant review so I was always prepared for exams without the all night struggles. Sleep deprivation reduces test scores.
I began to spend more time in the library and became friends with the better students and studied with them. Later, almost all of these went on to become established in many areas of medicine. My social life was minimal but I was still a sucker for girls. I became friends with Darryl Gustafson, a friendly guy who was from a small town in the Valley, Kingsburg. One night I met his sister Barbara, a new freshman student. She was the most beautiful girl I thought I had ever seen. She was intelligent and had a very snappy sense of humor. I fell immediately. However, she had a boyfriend at UCLA. I don't remember the details but I really worked and worked to win her over. Soon we were together and I was totally in Love.
I would drive to see her and stay in her home in Kingsburg. What a different place that was for me. Her father was a school supervisor and a lay Baptist preacher. He immediately took a dislike of me. I think he had made arrangements in his mind for Barbara to finish school and come home and marry a local boy and family friend. He saw his plans changing with me. The mother was gracious and kind and I developed a friendship with her.
I would drive all night from Newport beach in my 58 black Mercury and arrive in the AM in my lifeguard togs. I can appreciate why the father was not happy. But Barbara and I were lost without each other. During the spring of 1959 Barbara and I united together , in love, and she became pregnant. We were shocked but decided to have the baby, I could not stand the thought of an abortion, and we would marry. I would finish school, get a job and save to go to Medical school, I really believed I could do it. We were married in Kingsburg (it is interesting that I have repressed almost all the details and remember nothing of the actual marriage). We had a healthy son, Bradley in December 1959, and I rented an apartment in Santa Monica. We were good friends with another premed, Ed and Linda Mikulicich, who had the same experience we did. They had a son Mark and the 4 of us spent many hours together. My plan was to lifeguard one more summer and I then had a job with the Upjohn Company for the fall in San Francisco. I was finishing school and studying even harder and had developed a number of Lawn maintenance jobs that paid very well and I could do them on my own schedule. Money was not a problem at the time.
I came home one afternoon and no one was there. Barbara and her things and Bradley were gone! I was panicked and called all over. I finally called Kingsburg and was told Barbara would not talk to me. No explanation was given. Remember, I was still terribly in love with Barbara and very attached to my son. I found out later that Barbara was driven by her father in a prepared plan to leave. He had told her of his visions of me getting drunk and hurting her and the baby. He evidentially had her so afraid of me that perhaps she was eager to leave. In any case no explanation given, I was not allowed to talk to Barbara, only her mother would talk to me and was a dear friend at that time. I was broken hearted but went forward to my new job and experiences in San Francisco.
I had a BA but no money so I needed to work and save. Again, I cannot remember the details but it ended up with Barbara marrying the childhood choice of her father, uniting two old families in Kingsburg, and they adopted Bradley but allowed me to visit. I took as many trips as I could to spend time with him since I wanted to keep contact. It was difficult coming to her house with everyone gone except Verna. I still loved Barbara and it was so painful to be in the same town and not see her. I can say this was a huge emotional disaster for me and one I took years to get over. Even now I cannot remember details of this time. With time I have come to realize that it was the best for Barbara and I. She found a partner that she loved and had a happy life . I found a partner that has been the biggest blessing of my life.
I packed all my belongings in my car, drove up Highway 99 , through the East bay and suddenly there were the lights of San Francisco. I was dazzled and thrilled. The fog was coming in and I really lost my heart to the place. I had interviewed at school with various pharmaceutical companies to become a "detail" (sales) man. I was hired by Upjohn in a new and experimental division called special products. The idea was to visit doctors a year or so before release of a new drug and educate them on it before it was available. My extensive school work allowed me to understand these things. I was to spend 1 month with two gentleman from Upjohn in training. They were to meet me in SF.
When I arrived I stayed with a friend in Berkley but soon realized SF was for me. I found a wonderful place in the best part of town , Pacific Heights. It was a bed and breakfast and was in the Spreckles mansion. This was an old San Francisco estate and had all the charm and glamour one expected. It was filled with young people from all over coming to San Francisco, as I did, to start their careers. I covered the city going everywhere and absorbing the excitement. this was in 1960 and the Beat generation was in full swing in North Beach. Again, a whole new experience was happening before my eyes.
The Spreckles was a world in itself. Intelligent, active young men and women living together in the excitement of SF. The rooms were desirable with marble floors, fireplaces, large windows. A huge community living room and a wonderful Restaurant were available. There were actually gardens to walk in and all in the best area of SF. I soon met one of to be best friends Hank Bakker. A tall ,wirey Dutchman with a individuality unique to Europeans. He had left Holland, gone to Portland and worked as a printer and now was in SF with a new job. He was eager to meet friends and I was drawn to his intelligence and independent nature. We spent many hours telling each about our lives and getting to know each other. He had a tiny small car that two could barely fit in and the tires were like a tricycle. We went every where together. Driving up Lombard the wrong way for excitement, visiting small basement restaurants in Chinatown, going to jazz joints, to bars to meet and greet. Weekends with picnics in Goldengate park and Stinson beach. Meeting new friends every day. What a grand time. I made trips to Kingsburg to see Brad but had such distress as it reminded me of the loss of Barbara. Trips to Tahoe for beginning skiing and unsuccessful gambling.
My two Upjohn mentors turned out to be very kind and worldly men. John Shea and Pete Van Hafften were top executives and did not normally train new sales people. However, I was in a special division and they both loved SF. I had my car and a expense account and making well over $1000 per month, a big salary then. I bought new suits and shirts and ties and a briefcase. I looked like the young SF Business guy. I was taught all the information needed and then was escorted to doctors offices where I learned to charm the receptionists, keep track of all names and family info and make calls. I had to organize all of the bay area and schedule my calls. In the evenings the Upjohn guys took me to the best restaurants in SF. Price was no object. I learned about dining, wines, and all other social graces that I had never been exposed to. Besides great fun I learned to really like these men and they were very kind to me.
Hank and I and another guy, Dick Garvin, rented our own apartment in the downstairs of an older home near twin peaks. We did some remodeling of our rooms and were most impressed by a full length official old SF hotel bar in the living room. This was the site of numerous parties. We had many adventures, met many girls and lived the SF life as much as possible.
I went to a special week meeting in Kalamazoo and flew on an airplane for the first time. In those days it was a big occasion and you wore suit and tie. While at the meeting I got a tour of the huge Upjohn plant and the wonderful estate where the meetings were held. I saw the great wealth of a major corporation. At this time i was offered an opportunity to come to Kalamazoo at the end of the year and go into a 3 year executive program. I was very honored but still wanted to become a doctor. I began to apply to medical schools. Many of the California schools were too difficult to get into with a 3.4 average and I was becoming discouraged. However, after an interview I was accepted to medical school at St. Louis University. I was thrilled and all the years of work had paid off for me. Due to living on my expense account I had saved well over $10,000 and this was enough to get me going. It was with some sadness that I met with my two Upjohn supporters and told them of my plans. It is interesting to think what my life would have been had I gone with Upjohn.
I had to take one course in evolutionary biology for med school so back to LA where I attended Northridge college and worked at night as an orderly. The summer passed and I arranged to travel with two girls starting med school in Boston. With my suitcase and a Japanese microscope my dad bought me I left SF and drove to St Louis. It was an adventure driving across country and taking turns sleeping in the backseat while someone else drove. We moved day and night, no motels for us. I arrived in St.Louis in a downtown neighborhood near the medical school. I had no place to stay and my friends let me out adjacent to a beautiful Park and many older homes. we said our goodbyes and off they went to Boston.
I had a suitcase in one hand and a microscope in the other. As I walked around I remember a sign in front of a Babtist church advertising the benefits of its summer school. Included were the "racially segregated" notice. I knew I was in a different world then California. It was Hot and humid. I found an attractive house with a small blonde girl playing with her dad. I introduced myself and asked about rooming houses. He showed me a large and pleasant upstairs stairs attic that had a great large tub, small kitchen and a big room overlooking the park. He offered it to me for a reasonable amount and it was near the school. I had a place to stay! It was easy to move in. I took a door and sawhorses and built a large desk and made bookcases. I went exploring. About 1 block away was a medical fraternity house. I was soon a member and now had a place to get my meals as well as meeting a number of fellow medical students.
There was a week before classes. During this time I received an unexpected notice to appear at a large train station in downtown St. Louis for a pre army physical. I was sure there was a mistake since I thought I had a deferment. I arrived and was put in line with hundreds of young guys. We stood around with our underware on and were exposed to a rough and quick physical. They were loading a train with those who passed to go to Arkansas to boot camp. I tried to explain but no one listened. I was able to call the dean of the medical school who saved me from becoming a soldier in Viet Nam rather then a doctor. Again, lifes little jokes and how they can change your life.
School started and I was so ready. Years of effort to get here. I loved the school. It was in a difficult part of town but was old red brick and had a long history of many doctors graduating. it was a very old and romantic feeling school. As I sat in my first class, histology. or "thru the gut with pen and microscope' I was all attention. Due to my excellent education at UCLA I was used to long lectures and lots of reading. I was good at taking notes and organizing my material. When the lecture was over I had 3 times the notes of most. Many of these guys had gone to small private schools and were not prepared for the rush and hustle of large classes. I was in my element. In California I had finished premed with top students who were very quick and smart so I soon realized I was well attuned to this. Going to a big competitive school is tough but there are some advantages that are learned.
The school experience was overall wonderful and I became used to the demands. It was a full day of anatomy, physiology, histology, with lectures and time in labs. The dissection of our cadavers took many hours and often you returned in the evening to work. We had teams of two to a cadaver and every square inch was dissected and evaluated. Physiology was many hours of lecture. It was common to have 15 pages of notes and two hours of required reading each night for each subject. This was like taking 24 units in college, where the best students took no more then 17. I would come home at 5 or 6, have dinner at the fraternity, go to my apt. soak for 45 minutes in a hot tub and doze (I used a timer) then sit at my desk until about 2 then bed. Up at 7. On the week ends sleep in, breakfast with friends then study at the library till 6. Saturday night was "let it loose" time. Out to the local country bars, lots of beers, dancing (remember the "Twist"?) and general hell raising. Sunday was group breakfast (with some hangovers) then back to the study until late Sunday night. Sounds dismal but we loved it and were absorbing more information then we thought possible. I often thought that if I had this approach in college I would have been a star student. Unfortunately, we all grow old quick and too late smart.
I was able to keep in touch with Brad via his wonderful loving and really Christian grandmother Verna. She was kind and I would pour all my experiences to her and send love to Brad.
I met a good friend Bill Mohlenbroch who was from Illinois and a big friendly likeable guy. We studied together, partied and had great times. He became a orthopedic surgeon in La Jolla Ca and later started a major computer medical records company. He invited me to his home in Illinois for Christmas and I had an experience attending a goose hunt. Although I did not shoot I was still put off by the killing of these magnificent creatures. My partner in the goose pit was an older man who chewed tobacco and kept telling me it was the "anpissatation" that he liked about hunting. Not me. We also went to out of the way "roadhouses" where the black blues bands played all night. Way out on dead end dirt roads and run down wooden shelters with dim lights , lots of booze and great music. Bill always managed to get us enjoyable dates.
At the end of the first year I was the #1 student in the class. An unusual position for me since at UCLA I was always a middle of the class student. The #2 student was a guy from Notre Dame and he went on to form a genetic company after going to Stanford business school after medical school. After school ended Bill and I decided to do a slow and fun drive to California. His dad gave us the use of a new car and a credit card for gas. A unusual first year student, Norman Chernick , joined us on the trip. Norman later became a Neuro Psychiatrist in New York but was already a very deep and thoughtful guy. We slept out in the cornfields of Iowa, drove through small towns and ate at many wonderful local cafes, stopped and hit a few bars and chatted up the ladies, camped in Colorado, went through Salt Lake city, gambled and spent two nights in Reno and then on to San Francisco! was I happy to be back in my home land. Bill and I then did a 3 week slow cruise all over the coast from Mexico to the Redwoods. Bill then drove back to St.Louis. However, he was bitten by the California bug and returned for the rest of his life after medical school.
I could not bear the thought of another St.Louis summer and winter so I applied for my 2nd. year at UCLA, Cal and Stanford medical schools. Because of my outstanding first year record (all A grades) I was accepted by all 3. I decided on San Francisco since I was now at home here. I was accepted and would start in the fall of 1962. I now had a whole summer ahead. I was saving my money so I needed a job and shelter.
I was visiting LA and my old lifeguard friends but I was not wanting to go back to that job. I came across a veterinarian who had a large Spanish like home with tiles and beautiful lawns and his house was elsewhere but the office, dog boarding kennels and a guest house on the property in Beverly Hills. I was hired for a salary and given the spacious 2 bedroom guest house to stay in. I helped him with the animals and I read that Harry Belafonte was to play at the Greek Bowl and the group with him was The New Christy Minstrals. I had a very good friend from high school , Nick Woods, who was a member of this group. I called the hotel he was staying and we hooked up. That began a 5 week series of the most decadent activities I ever had. The whole group would come over after the shows, Barry McQuire, Randy Sparks, Nick Woods and lots of groupies. We had beautiful young Hollywood wantobes everywhere. Lots of Drugs and Booze. I was not a drug user-maybe a puff or two of weed but cocaine and the rest were too scary for me. Its best not to get specific but that was a summer to remember (?forget). I do remember leaving a party at 6 AM and going to the dog kennels and hosing things down and cleaning up the messes and then back to the house to shower and breakfast. This became a routine. Not bad but definitely not the way to spend your life.
Again, I would try to get to Kingsburg on certain weekends, stay in a motel, play with Brad, visit Verna but still missing Barbara who refused to see me. I still do not understand this since I never was abusive to her and only showed love and affection for her and Bradley. Yet, I was treated as a husband who had beaten his wife and child. I was angry about this.
September came and it was back to San Francisco for Medical school. I was able to move back to my old apartment in Twin Peaks with Hank. It was like moving home again. It was easy to get to the school and still had the amazing feel of a Hotel bar and party room. Way different from my Monk like existance in St.Louis.
School was like an old homecoming, many of my fellow Premeds from UCLA were there and I felt at home. Again, the smaller traditional almost romantic feeling of St. Louis U. was replaced by the modern, big, no nonsense corridors of UCSF. And right away I noticed the student caliber difference. Aggressive, ambitious, bright students out to be the best. I was no longer the top alpha student. The second year was also very demanding and my many hours of study returned. We were now being introduced to physical diagnosis which was an important course in those days since we did not have the many wonderful ways of imaging and diagnosing by machines. It was the traditional long practiced "art of Medicine' where an involved history covering many specific areas was obtained and then a well planned and thought out physical exam done. All the information then put together and a preliminary diagnosis made. Tests were then ordered to confirm or rule out these conclusions. Today it seems that the testing and imaging is relied upon more then the H&P.
We spent many hours in a retirement home examining people with known illness to learn what we could expect. Hours listening to heart beats, breathing, feeling abdomens, pulses etc. The final tests were you and a patient with a known abnormality (Mitral stenosis, abdominal abnormality, lost pulses etc.) that you were required to find on your own. We spent lots of time practicing on each other. I don't know if this course is still an important part of medical school because now doctors spend minimum time, no complete history, no real exam but order head to toes imaging to find whats wrong. This is often unnecessary and exposes to radiation and is very expensive. I do think lots of the cost of medicine could be reduced with the use of a complete H&P. Later, in my career, as a Radiologist, I was a beneficiary of these excess tests.
I still was able to enjoy the delights of a young single man in San Francisco. I went to all the bars on Union street, Maidan Lane (Great name), jazz on Fillmore, Sundays afternoon in Zachs in Sausalitio. Many wonderful memories which it would be best to keep to myself.
Between my second and third year I was a fellow in Pathology at San Francisco general hospital. My sponsor was a young pathologist Sam French. A very intense research guy and a good friend. I watched and helped on a number of autopsy cases and was then allowed to do the total autopsy itself. I then recorded the procedure and signed off, just like a real doctor! I did over 20 of these and still have copies of them. It sounds gruesome but we were very involved with medicine and disease discovery and saw the process as a constructive one. In those days autopsies were of great help in learning and the % of them per deaths was high. This is no longer the case.
I thought I wanted to be an Internist. I was fascinated by the endocrine system and the renal functions. I thought of these areas as being my interest. However, once I was on the actual clinics I discovered for every interesting case there were dozens of back pains, unknown stomach cramps and lots of psychosomatic stuff. I became bored and realized the everyday practice of these areas would not be as exciting as I thought.
At this same time I was assigned to the hospital at San Francisco general.WOW! I was now actually going to be a doctor with patients. My first rotation was OB-GYN and I was assigned to go to the delivery room. I arrived and there were numerous cubicles with women in labor and women just finished and women delivering and the action and noise was great. my heart was pounding and a busy nurse said "are you the new student?" "Yes maam". Then go scrub in and get into room 5. I looked around and saw a sink in a small room and immediately began washing my hands (scrubbing in). The same nurse came by and laughed. I was in the janitors closet and not where I was supposed to be. Fortunately I got it together and presented myself to room 5. An intern moved over and said sit down and deliver this baby. Fortunately, the patient had had many children and did not need help but I was there to catch the baby.
There were many many interesting experiences in almost every rotation but soon I began to feel comfortable around patients and began to have confidence in myself. I also became involved in a protest movement against the lack of teaching. My fellow protestor was Mike Laggios, a very outspoken and bright student. Mike later became a professor of pathology at UCSF and was a key researcher in women’s breast disease. We students spent 14 hours a day doing patient care, doing histories and physicals, rotating at night for duty and once a day for 2-3 hours private consultants were to come and review cases and teach us. We were always going to extra trouble to prepare for these. It became obvious that most of the time these "consultants' did not show. They were proud of their assistant Professor at UCSF next to their names since it assured many patients thinking they had to be good to be in that position. Laggios and I, wrote a letter complaining and many others signed it. It got no results. We then sent a copy to our California State representative and an investigation resulted. Many were removed, the head of departments were replaced by doctors from the East coast. The medical school had been taken over by the private sector and were using it as a ploy to compete for patients without full filling their teaching obligations. This action was to damage our chances of a good internship. The good old boys were very mad at we uppity students.
It was during my Junior year that I met the really and truly love of my life. Nancy Steuber was a nurse at St. Marys. I was doing H&P's in the evenings for the surgeons to make some money. I saw her and BING! went the strings of my heart. She was a darling and attractive blonde in a white uniform and seemed to be an angel. I was introduced and hoped to arrange a date. Unfortunately, Nancy had a car accident and actually suffered a skull fracture and went back to St. louis to recover. She was gone and I was unable to get in touch. About 6 months later I dropped into a bar on Union street and saw this very attractive blonde dancing with some guy. I had to meet her. When there was a chance I introduced myself. As we talked we realized that we had met before. Nancy then recalled that she had attended a medical fraternity party in St.louis with a date and she remembers Bill and myself as being on a stage dressed as Romans and with too much alcohol and trying to be funny. She and her date had left soon after. So, here was sort of our third meeting over a few years. It was fate for sure.
I began to try and spend time with her. she was very popular and had dates almost every night. I realized I was going to have to do a major offensive to win her. I borrowed an extra $500 dollars and began my plan. Nancy worked until about 4 and then went to mass. She was, and had been a devout Catholic. I arranged to pick her up after mass and we would go out for a few hours. I would then take her home so she could get ready for her date. I took her to my favorite hangouts including the "Cowgirl Bar" at a pier in SF. We would drink Martinis and get to know each other. Then back to her apartment to let her off. I knew I was making time when it got so I would stay with her until her date could be heard on the stairs. Also, she was sort of but not really engaged to a guy in St. Louis. I had to really focus, and I did. My $500 was helping. The break through was she had a party and, being the sweet and considerate person she is, invited all her "boyfriends". Her Dad warned her that was not wise. I realized that this was a good time to make a strong showing. I would put my arms around her and even give a little kiss on the cheek and tried to monopolize her attention. It seems to have worked because over the next few weeks I began to actually have an evening date with her.
After about 3 months I knew I was totally in love and proposed. She said Yes! However the catholic problem was there. I even promised to go to the catholic church. That was a big sign of my love. Also I was a divorced man and this complicated things. The end result was good. Nancy began to lose faith in organized religion and soon she was not accepting of the doctrine she had grown up with. This was not my doing but a journey by Nancy questioning the dogma. Maybe there is a God. I'm sure if there is he /she is also anti organized Religion.
We were married in a friends apartment in Pacific Heights and a civil judge married us. A great party at our new apartment on Stanyon St., a honeymoon in Montery California and I had to take my surgical notes since I had finals the next week. We were now together and have been ever since. The best decision I ever made. Who you marry is the most determining factor for happiness in your life. Unfortunately we often choose in the heat of lust and miss making a rational decision.
The next big event was going to St.Louis, a cross country drive in a 58 Ford. We arrived and I met Nancys family for the first time. A solid middle class group with lots of relatives. They were amazingly receptive to me and I felt welcomed immediately. Probably they all had faith in Nancys judgement. A wild and raucous party and I had to actually excuse myself at 2 AM since I was exhausted. My friend Bill was still at St. Louis medical and he and I and his girlfriend and Nancy had a week water skiing in the Ozark’s on big lakes.
I began the last year of med school in the fall of 1964. This was mainly clinical rotations and I soon discovered that The everyday patient care medicine was not for me. My father and mother were in Sausalito and my Dad bought a sail boat. We knew nothing about sailing but Dad, myself and a fellow medical student George Flynn, went out. it was a calm and clear day but we still managed to foul up the sails and even broke the rudder. Over the next few weeks we spent more and more time on the boat, repaired it, l learned how to sail and this became a grand relief from the everyday grind of school. Nancy became a great sailor and was always willing and able to help. She was the only one with enough nerve to go up the bosun chair to the top of the mast.
We soon were out in the ocean in 20 foot swells and running with the waves and actually surfing the boat under the Golden Gate bridge. I was overconfident and sailed in some very difficult weather but managed to survive it all. We had a small but unique apartment on Stanyan St. near the medical school. Nancy worked in a private doctors office and I was the full time student. A great year of many friends, trips and parties.
A very disappointing time for me at graduation. I received my MD degree and then we all were to get a internship assignment. These are important and there are a special few that we all sought. I was in the top third of the class and expected a good one. Instead I ended up at a unknown private hospital in St.Louis. I was disappointed and felt the good old boys had caused this. Mike Laggios, in the top 10% also got a nondescript internship. However, Nancy was happy to be able to be with her family and I decided to make the best of it. A long cross country drive and with the help of Nancys' family we were established in an apt next to the hospital. I was so disappointed when I began my service. It was a beautiful and clean hospital in a nice part of St. louis but the medical staff were mainly out of touch , ill informed doctors. I was exposed to one mistake after another and had only a few doctors I respected . While doing my surgery rotation I was so shocked at the ill thought out care and the mistakes that I reported this to the chief. Soon I was a persona non grata and the surgeons were suspicious of me. Rightly so on their part since I was speaking out against things I thought were wrong. I was miserable. I came home one evening and told Nancy we had to leave. This was a big disappointment since she had created a comfortable home, had her family and friends near and barely had time to settle in. I can say, she came through, as always, and recognized that I could not stay on. I look back and marvel at her patience and understanding that she always showed.
Another long cross country drive to San Francisco. I have to admit I was homesick and San Francisco looked so wonderful. It was now August and I was a MD without a internship, a fish out of water. I worked on the boat for a week or two and settled down. I then went in person and applied as an Intern at Pacific Medical center in San Francisco. The chief of Medicine, John Kelly, was a friendly and fine doctor. They were short an intern and I fit right in. I was now in an environment that was comfortable and challenging. It confirmed my actions in St.Louis. This was a real teaching hospital with high quality staff. Nancy was hired as a nurse and we began a fun and interesting year. We met some lifelong friends, renewed our sailing and had a magnificent but small apartment in Twin Peaks with a birds eye view of San Francisco.
I decided I enjoyed Radiology. I applied to Stanford and was accepted. We moved to Palo Alto and lived in an apt next to a pool and near the campus. A beautiful area. Nancy got a job at a Kaiser clinic. The Residency was a good one with outstanding teachers and the best of equipment. I tried hard to meet expectations. I began to sense a lot of political infighting among the doctors on the full time staff. A new chief, Herb Abrams, had taken over from the previous chief, Henry Kaplan. The whole environment changed and a more fearful and tense world was developing in the department. I had some unfortunate experiences with two staff members and they were very much against me. It appears they were overruled by Dr. Kaplan when the positions were filled and perhaps they wanted to correct this mistake. I had many staff who supported me but the difficulties with these two were hard to take.
I decided that the atmosphere was too difficult and applied elsewhere. I was accepted at Colorado but we both wanted to stay in the Bay area. I went to the county hospital in Oakland. This was a wild and wooly hospital with all kinds of trauma , disease and any and all pathology. The staff was adequate but you were somewhat on your own. I had a excellent group of residents who were very good at teaching and sharing. We were a team and learned alot.
I was able to visit other programs in the bay area who had experts in various fields and took advantage of this. Nancy became pregnant and darling son Kevin born May 11 1967. He was born while I was at Stanford at the Palo Alto-Stanford hospital. Nancy had swam during the pregnancy and was very trim and only gained about 20 lbs. She was swimming when labor began.She looked tired but beautiful on the mothers day kevin was born. He looked like a cute onion when I first saw him.
While in Alameda Nancy and I became very concerned about the war in Viet Nam. Many were being killed and the US was divided about this war. As usual it continued regardless. I thought there was no good reason to be in this war and joined the anti war protesters in Berkeley. Nancy and I were very active and led groups to protest. I actually was interviewed for a news show with Kevin on my back in a backpack. Many of my friends were pro war and we had vigorous disagreements. I met Gene McCarthy who was running for president on a pro peace platform. I met Robert Kennedy at the airport on a visit and was able to express my antiwar beliefs. The war went on but so did we.
I had received a deferment for the draft to finish my training, and in 1969 I was almost done. I received orders for duty in Korea. This was something I did not want to do. Nancy had one seizure and was on medications (from her earlier car accident) and we were able to use this hardship to avoid Korea. We were given orders to Kentucky. We had a few months between my Residency and the Army. We spent a month in Tahoe (no snow though), I worked part time in an office in Los Gatos and we lived for 2 months in a wonderful mountain area near Santa Cruz, Redwood Estates.
I bought a used Ford wagon,we loaded it up and did another cross country drive. We arrived in Fort Knox Kentucky July 4 and there was no one to check us in. We got a motel and that Monday I went to the base. No housing , so off to the bachelors quarters for Major and Mrs. Head and son. A week later transfer to a community house with other families and finally our own half of a duplex in the officers housing.
Nancy immediately enrolled in a English Riding class with an ex calvary colonel who thought the women students were soldiers. She had a rough time and actually was bought into my hospital for Xrays after a fall. No injuries but she gave up the class. We both enrolled in a pottery class and loved it. We learned to make jewelry and took advantage of all the great craft classes. Nancy was a part time nurse helper in the psychiatric ward and was saddened by all the young soldiers whose lives and minds were injured by the war. We met some new friends and we bound together. Rob and Sue Parks and son Toby were from California and semi hippies . Rob had graduated Cal Dental and was very anti Army and anti Viet Nam. He eventually was released with a CO discharge. He and Sue went back to Berkeley but were to join us later in Fortuna.
Don and Edna Cornforth were Adventists and Don was one of the most optimistic "Lets just do it" guys I have ever met. He had a house built on a private Lake near the base and lived right on the lake. Nancy and I spent many wonderful days swimming and boating with them. Don later established a Radiology practice in Colorado, started a chain of mexican food products, bought a large retirement home in Denver, spent 2 years in a hospital in Saudi Arabia as a Radiologist, established a big Radiology group in Bakersfield Ca. and started a medical insurance company and is still probably doing something new.
We got interested in all the old antique oak furniture available in Kentucky. People were buying Sears and getting rid of the most wonderful old things so we were able to get a collection. 6000 pounds were moved back to California when we left.
Don and I started a "free clinic" in Louisville for people without medical service. We went two evenings a week and Nancy and Edna were the nurses. Various drug salesmen gave us lots of samples which we were able to give for free. This was regular patient care medicine, not Radiology. I had done lots of clinical work at night when I was in my Radiology training and felt comfortable doing this. We handled every day problems and lots of pre natal and pediatric care. A very rewarding experience.
I arranged a number of part time jobs for myself and some fellow staff Radiologists in small towns in Kentucky. We would rotate days and go to the hospitals for the full day and do the Radiology needed. This paid well and I was able to save over $15,000 which was like $100,000 today. I would leave the base in my Majors uniform and stop at a gas station and change clothes on the way-Super doc. This money enabled me to buy a beautiful piece of property in Northern Calif when I was discharged.
We had a very close call that would have changed our lives. When we came back to the base after a trip to California I had orders for Viet Nam on my desk. I was supposed to get to Viet Nam within a week. I went to see the commanding officer of the hospital, Col.Joyce. He was a small , hard man who was a career soldier rather then a doctor. However, he knew my strong anti war beliefs and knew I had been involved with these for years. He respected this and also knew that I had been important in organizing the Radiology Department and was running an efficient department. I told him I would refuse to go and Nancy and I and kevin would go North to Canada instead. He knew all of us and had been to my house for dinner on some occasions. This could have been a serious turning point in our lives. Col. Joyce was able to keep me from going and reversed the orders. I will always appreciate that.
We were surrounded by regular career officers in our housing area. They had serious drinking parties and even played Sousa marches as background music. They told horrible stories about the damage they did to the "gooks' and wanted us to "nuke em". They knew my views so really laid it on. Neighbors from HELL. We managed to survive this group and were even able to maintain some normal social interactions.
I had a technician in one of my small hospitals in Glasgow Kentucky. His grand pa had grown Hemp during the war and he wondered if I could get him some seeds. Sure, I said, and bought some seeds from California. They were planted in a Tobacco field and by mid summer the "grass" plants were 12 feet tall. We harvested them in the fall and I had a large garbage bag full of only the tops of these plants, Joe and Granpa had the rest. I was able to use this stash to help promote many things on the base since many young officers (not regular army) were in charge of accounting, recreation, groceries etc. They were very grateful for my giving them some "smoke" and we were able to get some good benefits. Looking back it was a dumb thing to do but seemed reasonable at the time.(Like a lot of lifes experiences).
I was also a member of a large number of Army officers who signed petitions against the war. I helped in counseling soldiers about becoming conscientious objectors and all of this caused me to be under careful watch by the Army.
Even though I took all of these dangerous decisions I was able to be discharged on time without trouble. I look upon this time with mixed feelings. I put myself at great jepordy but I still feel that I did the right thing in protesting a wasteful and unnecessary war. History has shown my decision to be correct but the risk was great.
After the Army I felt like I was just starting my life. All of my previous years were under the control of schools and training and the Army. I was now open to my own choices. I toyed with the idea of sailing around the world, or traveling from one place to another working part time. I arrived at a decision that was unique and yet practical. I decided that lifes most precious gift was our time on this earth. I did not want to spend my precious early years working all the time. Yet, I had a profession that required a diligent and steady attention. I also wanted to have a big piece of property but did not want to slave for it. I wanted an extended family idea for the benefit of my family and the ability to travel while young but have my son well cared for. All of this led me to a area in northern California, Fortuna. I had found a small local hospital that severed about 30,000 and was in a very beautiful area with large Redwood forests and near the ocean. This was in 1972 and the "Hippy" back to the land was the life style idea of the moment. I had the vision of a beautiful land site, a group of like minded folks and a satisfying hospital job to practice my profession. We drove to Fortuna. On the way we stopped in the Southwest and visited various native American places.
Arriving in Fortuna we were lucky to find a gorgeous piece of property that was up for sale. This was a 70 acre valley surrounded by Redwood forests. Fields of flowers and fruit orchards and old houses yet near the hospital and town. It was a dream come true. I was able to buy it with the money I had earned and saved. We camped out at the River for a few days until we were able to arrange the purchase. I had made arrangements with Gary and Lynn Baker, a couple we met in the Army to join us. Gary had one more year at Cal SF to finish his Radiology training and then they would join us. An older farm house next to ours was to be theirs. Also, Rob and Sue Parks who we also met in the army wanted to join us in this adventure. Rob was a dentist and would open a practice here.
Everything was great. We inherited cattle from the old tenants. This was another new world opening to us. We had chickens and goats and geese and rabbits. We were immersed in the idea of the rural life. Luck brought us 3 young guys traveling our way and wanting to go to Humboldt state University, near us. One was Lynn Bakers brother and the other were Merritt and John. They brought a great level of energy and skill and we did a lot of remodeling, building of new structures, fences for the cattle and redid a old Barn for them to live in while going to school. There were wonderful times of soccer in the pastures, beach parties on the rugged coast line, great parties in the pasture with Bluegrass music, large farm style lunches by Nancy for all of we workers. We had a great English sheep dog, Amazing Grace, or Gracie that we had acquired in Louisville before we left the Army. She was the community dog and loved by all.We had also acquired many pieces of old oak farm furniture, stained glass, clocks etc. in Kentucky. We were able to furnish our remolded farm house with these items and the house was a real home.
Later, Nancy became active in weaving and learned how to shear sheep, cart and spin wool and make clothes. We bought sheep and replaced the cattle. We had a herd of about 15 sheep for years. Nancy later began to paint and I did pottery and we converted an old storage shed into a studio. We met many interesting people through her art association. Making Art was a passion with her and a outlet for me with the demands of medical decisions each day. We had a lovable sheep dog , Amazing grace, for many years, she was a part of our lives.
The difficult part of this new life was the caliber of medicine I was now a part of. This small rural area , like many at the time, was very backward with older poorly trained doctors. They did things they were not qualified to do and the many mistakes I saw caused me to act. Our hospital was a catholic one but part of a much larger organization with other larger and better hospitals. I became friends with the hospital administrator, sister mary Alma, a REAL christian lady. She also saw the many errors and inadequacies of these doctors. Together we decided that we needed to improve and change things for the safety of the community. It was a long and often unpleasant time that actually lasted over 5 years. I was under great pressure from the local doctors to leave and sister was threatened with loss of patients. However, in the end we recruited a whole new group of well trained specialists and had new buildings built and new ICU and Surgery suites and Emergency and up to date Radiology so that it became a very good and functional hospital. The level of care was excellent and many surgeries and other procedures were now possible. We brought in the first Ultrasound and CT capability to the area. We had Radioisotopes and MRI later and a very good mammogram service. I honestly think that my 5 years of effort accomplished one of the most significant things I have ever done in my life. The changes have improved the lives of many for the past 40 years.
Nancy and I and Kevin enjoyed our lives on the farm. It was called "Turkey Productions" since none of us were farmers or builders yet we did all these things. We joked it was a Turkey job and the name stuck. We backpacked in the mountains near us, had wonderful beach parties and played football and flew kites. Kevin became a outstanding musician and was playing a banjo with his instructor in a bluegrass band when he was 12. He became a cross country runner and built up his grandmothers mercury cougar to be the best car at the high school. We were very much the extended family with the Parks and Bakers. Toby Parks, Jennifer baker, Brent Baker and Kevin were like brothers and sisters.The kids were at home with all the families and thanksgiving and Christmases were usually done together in the big remodeled Barn on the property. Dinners for 20 or more with music and lots of fun went on for decades. All the grandparents would join us. Summer parties in the pastures after haying with many families, volleyball, bluegrass music were a tradition. We did lots of high mountain backpacking into the trinity mountains.
Race finish with a friend about 1982.
In 1985 Kevin graduated and went to Sacramento state for college. This really did leave a "empty nest" type feeling for Nancy and I. it was very difficult for Nancy, and therefore for me too. It was a tough couple of years while we readjusted to a new life and moved on.
I was asked to lead a small group of experts on cancer care to investigate the claims of a Russian group about a so called cancer cure process. I had a Doctor from Stanford Radiology Treatment and a Physics expert from Duke with me. We flew to Moscow and stayed 10 days. The "cure' was a sham but I had a marvelous adventure in Moscow with a personal guide who took me everywhere. One thing I noted was that the Russians were told we US people were the dangerous war mongers and Salin kept them safe. We were told the same thing about the Russians by our government. Total misunderstanding and fear on both sides. The ways governments control.
Nancy and I have been able to travel to Mexico, China, England, Germany, France, Switzerland, Canada , Italy, Hungry, Holland as well as many US cities. Nancy, with her friends, has had wonderful travels to Africa, India. and Burma.
I decided we needed other things to experience and got a part time job in Aspen Colorado. Aspen was a "Rich mans " playground and was nicer in the summer then the winter. I worked a few weeks on and off at the hospital and we bought a wonderful apartment in an old Victorian styled building. It was small but overlooked the Roaring Fork river and a view to Red mountain. It was an easy walk to downtown and to the Aspen Mountain ski area. We did a slight remodel and Nancy did a trip to Denver where she made a friend at a very upscale furniture store and we were able to outfit our apartment in very special furnishings. We added Nancys art to the walls and we were doing our Aspen thing. Nancy was active in the Anderson Art ranch each summer and made many friends. Many of these were married to very wealthy men (beyond millionaires) and we had a whole new social group. Fishing, horseback riding, hiking the high mountains, biking and of course lots of winter skiing. Kevin and friends from college joined us and they were a wild and crazy group. Ski all day. Power nap till 8 , then out to 2AM.
Myself and a group of friends in our Aspen Ski Club.
A group of friends and I had been going to Aspen for years and I knew the place well. I found that the summer was even better to be in Aspen. However, after a few years the town became more and more crowded with cars and tourists and the novelty was wearing off. We sold our place and put the money into building Nancys dream art studio in Fortuna. This beautiful studio was done by a family of contractors and Nancy was the architect and it is a wonderful space. She spent many hours and did lots of Art. I added a pottery studio and did pottery and we had friends join us for Art weeks during the summer. Nancy became active in art groups in the area and we met many new and interesting people.
Kevin finished Sacramento State college and was somewhat at a loss as to what he wanted to do. Fortunately, we were able to help him get interested in getting into Pasadena Art Center and he loved the world of graphic art. He has a strong talent for this and with his computer skills did excell. He hated Pasadena but learned a lot. He came back to San Francisco in the mid 1990s and began his career. He is able to work at home and has many satisfied clients. He has a supportive wife and two precious daughters and a loyal dog, Arlo.
I now had a third partner in the practice and was working 1/3 time. Due to the prices of rentals in San Francisco we decided it would be wise to buy a place and have Kevins rent money go towards a mortgage. We were lucky to find a old , large Edwardian type place with 2 floors and a possible third and fourth' It was in the Mission area and was just starting to be a place people wanted to move to. We bought it at a very reasonable price, spent many hours and dollars remodeling it and enjoyed it for 7 years. We sold it at the peak of the housing bubble and made a very good profit. Meanwhile, Kevin and Sarah found a "fixer upper" in the special place of Mill Valley in Marin county. The money from the sale allowed him to purchase a charming but run down place in the forest of Mill Valley hills. He spent lots of energy and brought this place back to a good condition.
Nancy and I loved this area and it was very much like our feeling we had in Fortuna with the trees and a small town feeling. We were able to "roll over' our profits from San Francisco and we purchased a "fixer upper' in Mill Valley. There were more things to fix then we thought including a hillside slide but after lots of hard work we have a delightful place near Kevin and near our two special granddaughters. Bradley had married and had 3 wonderful children. A daughter Jennifer, who has graduated from Michigan University and onto UCLA Law school,, a son Ethan who is a top of the line football place kick er and is at Cal Berkeley and a daughter Rachel also at Cal .. Five great grandchildren to be proud of. At this time the success of my family and my relationship to them is really the top priority. We often lose this idea when we are young and so full of ourselves.
We still own our Fortuna property and rent it out. We have found that our main residence is Mill Valley.
In 2005 I retired after 33 years of my Radiology practice and entered into a new phase of life. We are very happy.
Just recently (2015) , I received a very rewarding article from the Eureka Ca newspaper that was written by a young man I knew years ago. I am pleased to think that I was able to reach out and help another person with life's direction.
A
FORTUNA RADIOLOGIST WAS MY MENTOR
Back when I was a 16-year-old mess of
hormones and insecurity, I met a man who changed my life. Dr. Richard Head was
his name. He was a Radiologist at Redwood Memorial Hospital. He and his wife,
Nancy, lived on a parcel of land just outside of Fortuna. Two other doctors and
their families lived there as well. Richard’s house was old and needed repair.
He often hired local college students to help out with the maintenance and yard
work. Several of them lived in a large barn/house on the property. My
stepfather, Ernie, hired on as a carpenter there. I did some landscaping.
There was always some sort of “heavy”
discussion going on among the students that worked for Dr. Head. Subjects ranged
from politics to religion to women’s rights to their favorite authors and
musicians. Thoughts and ideas were tossed around like marrow in a meat shop.
They spoke of the escalating war in Vietnam and classes they were taking in
pre-Socratic philosophy. It was all strange and confusing to me.
At first I thought Dr. Head and his
clan were hippies from San Francisco, so I kept my eyes peeled for drugged-out,
naked chicks cavorting about the property. I never saw one. Wild partying and
psychotropic drugs were not what the doctor was about. What he and the others
had carved out for themselves in the small community was a slice of contentment
and well-being.
What I liked most about Dr. Head was
the way he thought. He was a champion of inner peace and a believer in the
malleability of intelligence. I was surprised to discover that he came from a
similar background as me. As a young man he worked at Jack-in-the-Box and mowed
lawns for gas money. He studied hard, got good grades, and went to medical
school. After he became a doctor, Richard found himself rubbing elbows with a
wealthier class of people. But one thing still separated them—attitude. The
flaunting of possessions, the fast life and failed marriages were of no interest
to him.
“I realized that we only have a short
time on earth,” he said. “I wanted to spend time with my family and enjoy life.”
That’s when he put his plan into effect. Richard moved to Fortuna, set up his
community and invited other doctors to join him. “We weren’t that alternative,”
he noted. “We weren’t looking for drugs or free love. There was no hanky-panky
between spouses, no emotional turmoil. It was a structured, planned community.
We all made a decent salary so there was no arguing over money. If one couple
wanted to go on vacation, the others would take care of their children and tend
to the place.”
At the same time Dr. Head began
making changes at Redwood Memorial Hospital. He wanted better medical care for
the local community. With the help of Sister Mary Alma he set about recruiting
top-of-the-line doctors to the hospital and had buildings constructed (often on
his own dime) for their practices. There were roadblocks along the way. It
wasn’t an easy job but they accomplished their objectives. Afterwards, Sister
Mary told him, “I’m convinced that God sent you here for this mission,
Richard.”
Dr. Head was my mentor even before I
knew what the word meant. He told me that what you say matters and what you do
is even more important. He gave me an important lesson in equality and fairness.
He showed me to unclench my fists and see the world in a new light. His
mentoring was not some kind of magic bullet but it gave me a vision for what was
possible. Through Richard I discovered that being wise is different from other
markers of success, like being rich or famous. I learned that true intelligence
consists of self-awareness and the ability to demonstrate personal growth.
He taught me that in order to grow
intellectually one must have a solid understanding of one’s priorities and
values, and that real wisdom is learned (earned) knowledge.
During our discussions Dr. Head
encouraged me to become responsible for my own life, to not make excuses, and to
get an education. “We all have ideas and dreams,” he said. “The big difference
is those who put them into action.” My mentor convinced me that if I worked hard
enough, I too could make something of my life. He took a confused 16-year-old
boy with very low self-esteem and turned him into a young man with a future.
For that I am eternally
grateful.
Some things I might wish I had done differently include:
Pay more attention to the world around me and open myself to new ideas.
Work harder in school and all intellectual things.
See more art, music , dance as early as possible.
Be less critical and more open and accepting of other ideas.
Be aware of your actions on other people, threat them with kindness and respect.
Learn to get along with others with cooperation rather then confrontation.
Be a better listener.
Be careful with what you say, you will be judged by this and it may cause unnecessary pain to others.
Have more exercise on a regular basis.
Be wise about my diet.
When doing anything, devote my full attention to it.
Be more accepting of authority and less combative.
Be more active politically and aware of what is going on.
Be more aware of the fears and stresses of my patients.
Listen to those I respect and incorporate some of their advice.
Start a reasonable but conservative savings program early and stay with it.
Spend less time in my earlier life drinking and partying and do more constructive things with my precious youth.
Be aware that many small things are not important and learn to let them go.
Don"t take so many things personal. Be aware that many people act out to you because of their own problems, not you.
Understand that who you chose as a life partner is probably the most important decision you will make.
Follow more often My mantra of " Discipline and Patience".
Always try things and don't get trapped at whether you will be perfect doing them. Fear of not being perfect, or failing, will restrict your life.
Don't try to change others , you are the only one that you might have success with
Most of Life's stresses are not the events, but your reaction to them
Rather then react to a statement or comment by another ask yourself is it really important that you disagree? will it make a difference? If not let it go. Saves a lot of stress.
Looking back I can review my life's path.
Graduated high School and passed the college entrance tests to go to a good College UCLA.
Graduated UCLA in biology and premed.
Worked a year with Upjohn to get medical school costs,
Went to Medical school at St Louis and UCSF.
Internship at Pacific medical center SF.
Radiology at Stanford and Alameda county hospital.
Board Certification tests passed. Army as a major 2 years.
Private practice in Fortuna 33 years. Also, various local stops at different hospitals in Colorado, Arizona and California.
Wrote two informative blogs on the internet that opened ideas for many
Retired to a beautiful area Marin County.
