Title: Richard J. Smith lecture in defense of common sense
Abstract: When a person's name is attached to an event, an invention, or an award, it runs the risk of becoming depersonalized. The name itself becomes gradually devoid of the essence of the character of the individual for whom the trophy, award, or lectureship was named. It becomes a noun, said rapidly, in a single breath, without punctuation, spacing, or inflexion: thecyyoungaward, thenobelprize, therichardjsmithlecture. Nobody reflects anymore on Cy Young, the pitcher or Alfred Bernhard Nobel, the scientist. I would not want this fate to befall the memory of Richard J. Smith. Dick Smith passed away in 1987, only 11 years ago. He was 57 years old, and had been one of the brightest in our profession; the owner of an intellect that simply dazed those with whom he came in contact. He was also a true scholar, thoughtful, eminently witty, and, most appropriately, commonsensical. He trained in the field of orthopedics at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, NY. It was there that he first became aware of hand surgery as a subspecialty, influenced by the gentle giant of hand surgery, Emmanuel Kaplan. He took a year to train in hand surgery, with Guy Pulvertaft in Derby, England, and with Joe Boyes, in Los Angeles, CA. He eventually returned to the Hospital for Joint Diseases, where he succeeded Dr Kaplan in 1968, 1 year
Publication Year: 1998
Publication Date: 1998-07-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
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