The Frontrunner
While browsing a bookshop for a volume on human anatomy, a striking poster caught my eye. It featured a “Frontrunner,” a cowboy, sprinting for his life across the Old West, pursued by an entire tribe of Native Americans—seeking payback for insulting their chief. Though the timing remained uncertain, I couldn’t help but imagine this well-trained, charismatic surgeon as a kind of frontrunner himself—boldly heading into an uncertain clinical landscape. The poster seemed fitting, so I bought it as a gift, a playful symbol of what he might face upon arrival.
DeBakey vs. Cooley
Rivals to achieve the power of ascendancy in heart surgery in the 1960s, Drs. Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley collaborated with manufacturers to have their names on the devices they helped design. A handful of surgeons before them rode that path to renown, but most did not.
New tilting-disc configurations gradually replaced these older, accepted ball-in-cage valve designs. Cooley and DeBakey were giants in cardiac surgery, but only the valve bearing Dr. Albert Starr’s name remained implanted for decades. Having your name imprinted on a new heart valve design could create a financial windfall or become a lasting debacle. Prof. Björk’s name dominated the industry when I began working for Shiley in 1976, but a decade later, it broadcast heartache for millions when attached to the words “strut failures”.
Heart valve photos are from the personal collection of Roberto Caudillo, a colleague at CarboMedics.
Shenanigans with Doc
When sales hit targets, and late-night entertainment of customers goes well, “one for the road” can turn you into a joker. There’s the result. Doc and I used all but one letter of the original message, “Employee of the Month, Joe Novack,” to create what you see above. The sign reverted that morning during the manager’s daily grounds inspection. Joe in catering, found it “pretty damn funny” without us revealing the culprits. Stupid, moronic, lame-brained — pick your adjective — retelling the story as “clever” to our mates explained our mindset at the time.
Time at the Carnival
We were tasked to evaluate the possibility of manufacturing the bovine pericardial valve in Sao Paulo and investigate the market size for tissue valves in South America. We were aware that a private local group produced these models of tissue valves, but did not consider a joint venture feasible. This surprise bonus for my sales efforts in the Northeast energized my focus on the goal of a foreign posting. And, with matchless timing, after the market evaluation ended, the Carnival began in enchanting Rio de Janeiro. It did not disappoint. Observing the shady mannerisms of my travel companion during business exchanges, the idea of working under his cagey direction had little appeal.
First California Trip
I had already crossed the country once with George Lane, a Rutgers fraternity brother and budding author. Just after graduation on June 6, 1966, we set out in my newly purchased MGB, driving from Camden to Los Angeles and back in only ten days. George, unfamiliar with a stick shift, left the driving to me but kept me alert and on course, navigating with paper maps in the days long before GPS. That whirlwind journey gave me a vivid sense of America’s vastness and a deep appreciation for the Interstate Highway System, built in the Eisenhower era. The experience only fueled my appetite for travel.