Inventing Ott: The Legacy of Arthur C. Guyton
Jerusha Bosarge
Quail Ridge Press

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Arthur C Guyton, Ott, the main character found on the pages of „Inventing Ott: The Legacy of Arthur C. Guyton“ was an intriguing man who thought himself rather ordinary. Born in 1919 in Mississippi the child who would be come a noted physician, inventor and advocate for the handicapped was reared in a typical Southern home. The house was built in 1852 and had a summer kitchen behind the house to keep down heat and danger from fire so prevalent in those days.

As one of the four children of a busy ophthalmologist Ott lived a life filled with laughter and happiness and servants, and mostly good times. When he was four Ott experienced a decidedly NOT good time, he lost a race with an oncoming car, suffered a broken leg and experienced awful pain before the leg healed.

Always competitive; Ott grew up questioning, challenging and exploring. He joined Boy Scouts, learned to ride a bicycle and alternately teased and adored his little sister Ruth and went to school in Oxford. He grew into a tall, lithe young man who loved sports, people and projects of increasing complexity, including conducting repairs and renovations to the family home as well as building his own sailing boat, and, he enjoyed friendship with another Oxford resident; William Faulkner.

As a young adult he graduated from high school in 1936, attended Ole Miss and was well on his way to becoming a physician when he made the move to Harvard where he met Ruth Weigle. He did not know it at the time, but their lives would soon be intertwined in unexpected fashion. The pair married in 1943 and enjoyed a long and happy marriage until their deaths in 2003 as the result of an auto crash.

Ott’s love for biochemistry and building led to his developing ideas or devices themselves which would revolutionize the field of medicine: his electronic pressure measuring apparatus became a device which is used to today to measure arterial pressure, an instrument providing intermittent suction during surgery attracted attention and altered Ott’s future military career.

April 1944 brought the birth of the first of the ten children Ott and Ruth would produce, and soon after Ruth and the baby arrived in Maryland; Ott was assigned to the Bacterial Warfare Department in Camp Detrick, Maryland. The end of the war in 1946 brought more changes to the young family.

Tragedy struck late in 1946 when Ott who was working interminably long hours suddenly spiked a high fever. Before long; he self diagnosed his condition as polio. He lost feeling and use of his left upper arm, both shoulders and his lower right leg.

By 1947 Ott was demonstrating the first electric wheelchair, received a Presidential citation for its invention and went on to create/invent/and devise many of the devices we take for granted today. "If you need it, and it doesn’t exist, invent it" became the Guyton motto.

„Inventing Ott: The Legacy of Arthur C. Guyton“ is an inspirational tale in the vein of those that draw attention to the role difficulty plays in the achievement of many people, and because "Ott" accomplished most of his work from a wheelchair I was especially drawn to the tale. My oldest son does not use a chair today, he did for a time as a child, however, he does have cerebral palsy and walks with a pronounced limp.

Author Bosarge is a skilled writer who writes from a first hand perspective: her husband was one of Doctor Guyton’s last students. Guyton is a forceful figure, his life presents a gripping tale and Bosarge has deftly managed to bring a compelling read. Happy to recommend.