AUTUMN NEWSLETTER 2008

At this late date we can report that last year’s programme was very successful, and 2008 looks equally promising. The average attendance at the monthly dinners was 78 (72-85) with an all time record of 115 diners on the evening of the NZMA sponsored ‘Jack Lovelock Book Launch’. There are a few gaps this year both from disability or bereavement but we also have a number of new (financial) members with a total membership of 180. Last year we were very well served by our two ‘named speakers’. Prof Ross Lawrenson - the Founder’s Lecturer, told us about James Mouat, the first medical VC who served in the Crimea and then in the NZ Maori Wars. Murray Meikle, the James Newman Lecturer gave a fascinating account of the New Zealand contribution (‘the Dunedin Connection’) to the development of 20th Century plastic surgery. Most of the other papers were presented by ‘locals’ assisted by Bill Sugrue from Whangarei with an interesting paper on Northland Medical Personalities and Martin Wallace from the Waikato who spoke with great insight (and personal knowledge) of homeopathic hospitals in the UK. John Richards entertained us with his own DVD reconstruction of early Auckland and Harold Coop gave an excellent account with wonderful photographs, of human bones and ancient medical instruments in a medieval village in France. Other papers of particular note included that of Laurie Reynolds, who with commendable modesty, told how he abandoned the traditional practice of complete bed rest and encouraged early mobilisation of convalescent patients after a heart attack. This change resulted in a substantial improvement in mortality and led incidentally to the formation of the first Jogging Club in the world. Terry Sutcliffe recounted the tragic fate of the young women who painted luminous dials and demonstrated the source of their disability with a Geiger counter which recorded alarmingly high counts when pointed at a lowly luminous wrist watch.

Book Launch

This function was arranged by Dr Ron Goodey and sponsored by the Auckland Branch of the NZMA of which he is Chairman. The book was - ‘Jack Lovelock, Athlete and Doctor’ by Dr Graeme Woodfield who is a member of the Society.

Graeme brought along several of his collaborators to discuss the circumstances of Jack Lovelock's death in a New York subway. They presented a convincing case to indicate that Lovelock’s fall on the tracks resulted from a combination of physical disabilities, which they recounted in detail. Many of you will have seen the TV One film which covered similar ground but with the somewhat negative contribution of James McNeish, who as a popular author, perhaps understandably clung to his previous notion of “suicide”. Many favourable comments were received after this NZMA meeting, none more poignant than a letter (still available) written to Ron Goodey by David Dove, shortly before his death following a protracted illness. Like Lovelock, David also trained in Oxford, was an athlete and doctor. His achievement was to become a highly competent and respected general practitioner back here in Auckland.

Requiem

Several of our members have also passed on during the year and include - -

Lady Margaret Scott who with John was a regular attendee. Margaret was born in Fifeshire and had a career in Journalism in Australia. She also had a major interest in history and enjoyed the medical bias of our meetings. -

Reginald (Reg) Lockstone, long-term member of the Executive, savant, teacher historian and skilled calligrapher, will also be sadly missed, as will his beautifully inscribed lapel badges which have been a regular feature of our meetings. -

Catherine Caughey whose late husband Ron was a senior paediatrician at the Auckland Hospital, was a very regular attendee. Some years ago she told us something of her then secret experience at Bletchley Park where the German Enigma Code was broken. At that time she was not allowed to tell us the full story and we’d hoped that now that the embargo had been lifted, we would hear more – but that is not to be.

Finally, our sympathy goes to John Stewart, whose wife Marjorie, died very recently after a prolonged incapacitating illness which prevented her attendance at our meetings.

The Annual (Christmas) Dinner

This was undoubtedly a great success, though there were a few hitches with timing. The meal was a great improvement on the previous year and our guest speaker, Dorothy Carter gave a wonderfully researched account of the cricketing (and lesser medical) prowess of her distant relative, the great W G Grace. Her manuscript (with coloured illustrations) which she has added to our archive collection is a model for all future presenters! Members will be delighted to know that Dr Goodey has confirmed NZMA support for this year’s dinner. We hope that this will establish a precedent!!

The 2008 Season

We have already heard a number of excellent papers this year. Once again, our own members excelled with particular assistance from Shona Caughey who in her inimitable fashion told us of the pioneering work of Dr Catherine and Reginald Hamlin in helping the women of Ethiopia with the grim problem of vaginal fistula following unsupervised and prolonged child birth. Our Founder’s Lecturer, Basis Hutchinson spoke about the many text books (bibles) which we as students studied in our undergraduate year. Mention of Boyd’s Pathology, Grey’s Anatomy and the like, evoked many memories and his comments on our respected and formidable teachers were well stated.

Housekeeping

Again this year most of the papers are contributed by locals. Edward Nye however who has been involved in the organisation of several demonstrations of the great medical botanist, Linnaeus will travel from Dunedin in August as the James Newman Lecturer. The October meeting will feature Drs James Hardie Neil’s and Frank Gwynne’s early work on pulmonary architecture, Frank’s son, Dr Jim Gwynne, who lives in Brisbane is unable to attend because of illness, but will be sending us a CD telling how, as a child he watched parent and friend engaged in pathological activities on the billiard table in Hardy Neil’s home – much to the displeasure of Mrs Neil. An oil painting by the artist, Bessie F Christie (1944) of Frank Gwynne in his Radiology Suite donated by Chris Cotter, will be presented to the Marion Davis Library on his behalf by David Caughey. Chris and his wife Monica will be away sailing on the west coast of America!!

Future Plans

Members will be interested to know that a major renovation of the entrance foyer of the Ernest and Marion Davis Library is planned to begin in the final months of this year. This will undoubtedly create problems both for the monthly meetings and Annual Dinner. It is possible that the Monthly Meetings will shift to the Clinical Education Unit in the main City Hospital and the Dinner to an as yet uncertain venue, possibly the Old Government House or the Commerce Club. The alterations which are planned to open up the foyer, will include the demolition of the office on the left hand side, with additional glass doors through to the dining room. The installation of a lift, and provision of extra toilets. It will be a major task to ensure that the many historic items in the building are protected from damage. Details will follow.