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 20th 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 18th
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 20th 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 20th
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.