MY EDITORIAL CAREER

         Tuesday morning, I woke up and didn’t feel so good. I probably overdid working in the garden on Monday. Every single joint hurt and I’m positive there wasn’t a single square inch of skin of which I wasn’t aware. I postponed my walk, took an Aleve and went back to bed for a while.

          While I lay there waiting for the Aleve to kick in, I started thinking about how wondrous the body is. I could picture the medication dissolving in my tummy and being transported through my blood vessels to the rest of my body. I have just enough medical knowledge to be dangerous because way back in the early 1970s, I was the editor for the Ruch-Patton Textbook of Physiology and Biophysics.

          This textbook was first published in 1896 by William H. Howell. As time went by, he took on a partner and published revised editions. Eventually, my professor, Dr. T. C. Ruch became the lead editor with Dr. H. D. Patton as his partner. The 20^th edition on which I worked came out in three volumes and in reverse order. Volume III, Digestion, Metabolism, Endocrine Function and Reproduction was published by W. B. Saunders in 1973. I didn’t have a lot to do with that volume, but Dr. Ruch’s inscription reads, “To Paula, without whose abilities and patience this book would never have been edited (so well).” I was responsible for finalizing the page proofs and checking every single reference cited.

          Dr. Patton was responsible for Volume II, Circulation, Respiration and Fluid Balance. He was also the Director of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Washington. I went to him to inquire as to how he wanted to proceed with his volume. He told me he didn’t care, that I could do whatever I liked about it.

          I guess I should provide a bit of an explanation here. Initially, I worked for Dr. Ruch when he was Director of the Regional Primate Research Facility at the UW. He was responsible for getting it built; however, in the process he had a very serious heart attack which affected something like 75% of his heart. It also affected his mental capacity. Dr. Ruch had been a wizard in his field, graduating with a B.A. in psychology from the University of Oregon, 1927; a master’s from Stanford, 1928; a B.A. (1930) and a B.Sc. (1932) in physiology from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. His Ph.D. in physiology was obtained at Yale in 1933. That’s also where he worked with Dr. J. F. Fulton who brought him on as a co-editor of the textbook’s 18^th edition.

          Even in the early 70s, doctoral students who came to the UW and found out Dr. Ruch was around had stars in their eyes. Unfortunately, he was no longer the wizard and most were very disappointed with their interactions because Dr. Ruch didn’t live up to their expectations based on his reputation. It was his reputation that also got the 20^th edition published. It was the last edition, and really only saw publication because of Dr. Ruch. Scientific research was moving so rapidly, it was easier for researchers to publish monographs and get their results out to other scientists more quickly than a book every five years.

          Now, it was 1971 or 1972, science had changed and it was no wonder Dr. Patton didn’t much care. The 20^th edition would be out-of-date before it hit the printing presses.

          I persevered, however, because it was my job. I wrote a letter to all the authors of chapters in Volume II. In the letter, I gave them a due date and said I would have Saunders publish their old chapter if they didn’t provide a new one. Boy, I had some power and used it didn’t I?

There was one professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics of whom I was seriously afraid…he’d once been a marine. His secretary (as we were called then) also terrified me and I often wondered if she’d been a marine too. I sent the letter anyway; and, sure enough, this professor came calling. I braced myself when I looked up and saw him in my office door. Rather than yelling at me for sending that letter, he said I was to let him know if the folks in his department didn’t follow through in a timely manner. He and his secretary became a lot more friendly and I was no longer scared.

I don’t know how many of my readers know what goes into getting a textbook published. Here’s a little synopsis. This textbook (and maybe all textbooks) consists of chapters written by the expert in the field. The chapter author submits a revised chapter. The editor (moi) reads through and makes corrections and sends it on to the publisher. The publisher sends back galley proofs which are long sheets of paper with the chapter printed on them. The editor (moi) checks and corrects any mistakes, including the location and citation of the tables and figures, and spends days in the Health Sciences Library checking the references to make sure they are cited correctly by the chapter author. The galleys go back to the publisher and once corrections are made, page proofs are submitted back to the editor and author. The author doublechecks his work, returns it to the editor (moi) who finalizes the page proofs and returns them to the publisher. The next time I saw any of those chapters, they were in book form.

Volume II was published in 1974, and Dr. Ruch (should have been Dr. Patton) graciously wrote, “To Paula, secretary-editorialist without whose help this book wouldn’t have even got started.”

A little aside here because I always found it amusing. W.B. Saunders sent one of their agents to meet with Drs. Ruch and Patton. He also wanted to meet with me and proposed I have dinner with him at the Four Seasons (his hotel). I was happy to do so, but almost immediately realized he had two agendas. One was to make sure the textbook was proceeding on schedule. The second was to have a “good time.”

When we were seated, rather than sitting by myself on the comfortable bench behind the table, he joined me there so we were both facing out into the restaurant. I don’t know if you remember just how short dresses and skirts were in the early ‘70s, but I was wearing a suit that was a knit dress with a matching long jacket. Both were short. My thighs were pretty exposed. This nasty old (and he was old) agent thought he could just put his hand on my thigh. I kept removing it over and over again and scrunching as far away as I could get. 

Dinner, however, was delicious and so was the wine he ordered. I had never tasted wine that was so delightful and could have easily drunk the entire bottle on my own. I knew, however, that would be a horrendous mistake, taking into consideration that agent’s busy hand, so limited myself to one glass. There was also caviar on my salad…this wonderful gentleman ordered for us both. Dinner over, reassurances given about how the textbook was proceeding, I prepared to take my leave.

Wouldn’t I love to go to his room for a nightcap? I knew it was coming and I was ready. Oh, thank you so much, but my husband is taking care of my son. I really need to get home. I shook that restless hand and headed for the garage and my car. Dinner and wine so good, though, that it was actually worth my removing his hand from my thigh numerous times.

 The final Volume I, The Brain and Neural Function was totally Dr. Ruch’s responsibility, plus he had the majority of chapters. It was finally published in 1979 and Dr. Ruch sent me a copy with a notation thanking me for my help and patience. I had left my position some time in 1973, maybe 1974 because that’s when John and I were going to start a commune. So, I didn’t get to the page proofs, but I did do a lot of work on the galley proofs. In fact, the professor in Physiology and Biophysics of whom I had been so afraid, begged me to stay because he believed Volume I would never be finished if I left. Well, it took years, but it was finished and published.

Which brings me back to visualizing that Aleve coursing through my body. Those three volumes totaled 1,692 pages of physiological and biophysical information. Much of it I read numerous times. Amazingly, almost 50 years later, that wonderous brain of mine still retains some of that information. I do have to admit that the retention of that data has been most helpful all my life. It’s helped me converse with various doctors about various family health issues, to know when to push, and to know when to follow up. Sometimes, I’m sure those medical practioners would have preferred I know a lot less. As I said in the beginning…I know just enough to make me dangerous.