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It seems there was indeed a time when a man of 132 pounds could be a collegiate football player, a center in fact. It was a time when family names became anglicized. It was a time when bacterial infections could take a young healthy person’s life in days or hours of his or her apparent perfect health. It was a time when getting into medical school was much easier than making a living in medicine!
This author, C.E. Campbell, is the grandson of his biographical subject. His grandfather is the unmistakable protagonist, hero, but through this perspective, a reader is treated to the origins of collegiate and professional American football, a tender brotherly love story, a glimpse of pre-Flexnerian medical education, and the origins of pulmonary medicine through the extant realities of tubercular disease.
The business of pulmonary medicine prior to effective antibiotics can be experienced vicariously through Dr. Charlie Hendricks’ early career.
Ah! But there is much, much more. Dr. Hendricks goes to the "war to end all wars," and his service in northeast France is meticulously detailed, as we are apparently the beneficiaries of a well-kept diary or ledger. If you are a WWII aficionado, you will enjoy comparing his up-close experiences with the subsequent guerre mondial.
If you have wondered about the use of chemical weapons, relevant even today, Dr. Hendricks’ experiences are, if not riveting, commanding of attention.
The end of the first global war seems to be a bit of a climax, but even in the dénouement, Dr. Hendricks’ career holds interest as he is involved with the origin of our own professional organization, the American College of Chest Physicians, and its journal. The evolution of medicine from self-pay to a world of third-party payers lies obscured beneath the career as reported, but interested readers will be aware and interested to view this experience.
In the end, one almost sees Dr. Charlie Hendricks as having a Forrest Gump-like career. He seems to have been at the fore of such a number of exciting developments over the eras through which he lived. It is a treat for us, the readers, to experience that as well.
Reading this work forced me to reflect on what makes a great biography. Is it the story, the life, or its subject and the events therein contained? Or is it the writer, the descriptions, and the presentation that carry such a work? While well written and detailed (especially the WWI account), the distinguished author may not be a Chernow or Caro. Yet what might be lacking in objectivity and style is more, I would say much more, compensated for in passion and scrupulousness. C. E. Campbell ardently, perhaps lovingly, details his subject’s life, but Dr. Charlie Hendricks lived a passionate life, and how could his biography be otherwise written?
It seems there was indeed a time when a man of 132 pounds could be a collegiate football player, a center in fact. It was a time when family names became anglicized. It was a time when bacterial infections could take a young healthy person’s life in days or hours of his or her apparent perfect health. It was a time when getting into medical school was much easier than making a living in medicine!
This author, C.E. Campbell, is the grandson of his biographical subject. His grandfather is the unmistakable protagonist, hero, but through this perspective, a reader is treated to the origins of collegiate and professional American football, a tender brotherly love story, a glimpse of pre-Flexnerian medical education, and the origins of pulmonary medicine through the extant realities of tubercular disease.
The business of pulmonary medicine prior to effective antibiotics can be experienced vicariously through Dr. Charlie Hendricks’ early career.
Ah! But there is much, much more. Dr. Hendricks goes to the "war to end all wars," and his service in northeast France is meticulously detailed, as we are apparently the beneficiaries of a well-kept diary or ledger. If you are a WWII aficionado, you will enjoy comparing his up-close experiences with the subsequent guerre mondial.
If you have wondered about the use of chemical weapons, relevant even today, Dr. Hendricks’ experiences are, if not riveting, commanding of attention.
The end of the first global war seems to be a bit of a climax, but even in the dénouement, Dr. Hendricks’ career holds interest as he is involved with the origin of our own professional organization, the American College of Chest Physicians, and its journal. The evolution of medicine from self-pay to a world of third-party payers lies obscured beneath the career as reported, but interested readers will be aware and interested to view this experience.
In the end, one almost sees Dr. Charlie Hendricks as having a Forrest Gump-like career. He seems to have been at the fore of such a number of exciting developments over the eras through which he lived. It is a treat for us, the readers, to experience that as well.
Reading this work forced me to reflect on what makes a great biography. Is it the story, the life, or its subject and the events therein contained? Or is it the writer, the descriptions, and the presentation that carry such a work? While well written and detailed (especially the WWI account), the distinguished author may not be a Chernow or Caro. Yet what might be lacking in objectivity and style is more, I would say much more, compensated for in passion and scrupulousness. C. E. Campbell ardently, perhaps lovingly, details his subject’s life, but Dr. Charlie Hendricks lived a passionate life, and how could his biography be otherwise written?
It seems there was indeed a time when a man of 132 pounds could be a collegiate football player, a center in fact. It was a time when family names became anglicized. It was a time when bacterial infections could take a young healthy person’s life in days or hours of his or her apparent perfect health. It was a time when getting into medical school was much easier than making a living in medicine!
This author, C.E. Campbell, is the grandson of his biographical subject. His grandfather is the unmistakable protagonist, hero, but through this perspective, a reader is treated to the origins of collegiate and professional American football, a tender brotherly love story, a glimpse of pre-Flexnerian medical education, and the origins of pulmonary medicine through the extant realities of tubercular disease.
The business of pulmonary medicine prior to effective antibiotics can be experienced vicariously through Dr. Charlie Hendricks’ early career.
Ah! But there is much, much more. Dr. Hendricks goes to the "war to end all wars," and his service in northeast France is meticulously detailed, as we are apparently the beneficiaries of a well-kept diary or ledger. If you are a WWII aficionado, you will enjoy comparing his up-close experiences with the subsequent guerre mondial.
If you have wondered about the use of chemical weapons, relevant even today, Dr. Hendricks’ experiences are, if not riveting, commanding of attention.
The end of the first global war seems to be a bit of a climax, but even in the dénouement, Dr. Hendricks’ career holds interest as he is involved with the origin of our own professional organization, the American College of Chest Physicians, and its journal. The evolution of medicine from self-pay to a world of third-party payers lies obscured beneath the career as reported, but interested readers will be aware and interested to view this experience.
In the end, one almost sees Dr. Charlie Hendricks as having a Forrest Gump-like career. He seems to have been at the fore of such a number of exciting developments over the eras through which he lived. It is a treat for us, the readers, to experience that as well.
Reading this work forced me to reflect on what makes a great biography. Is it the story, the life, or its subject and the events therein contained? Or is it the writer, the descriptions, and the presentation that carry such a work? While well written and detailed (especially the WWI account), the distinguished author may not be a Chernow or Caro. Yet what might be lacking in objectivity and style is more, I would say much more, compensated for in passion and scrupulousness. C. E. Campbell ardently, perhaps lovingly, details his subject’s life, but Dr. Charlie Hendricks lived a passionate life, and how could his biography be otherwise written?
