eggheadchronicles
Memoirs |
Via ovicipitum dura est
My memoirs recap a fifty year time span including medical school and a forty year medical practice as a busy anesthesiologist. A consistent theme is the attempt to do the right thing amid an ever constant onslaught of professional and personal dilemmas.
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Welcome to eggheadchronicles.com. I am a retired physician who practiced medicine in the Concord, North Carolina area from 1978 through 2017. During that time I encountered a myriad of personal and professional challenges that many people would consider astounding. I wrote my first book, " Confessions of an Anesthesiologist " in 2016 near the end of my career to document some of the more interesting challenges. In 2020 I wrote a second book, " Greenbrier Chronicles ", to illustrate and explain the basis for my growing concern for environmental problems including climate change.
I like stories about people who try to do the right thing : even if sometimes against popular opinion or peer pressure. These people are frequently intellectuals or "eggheads" who value their own reasoning over the need to follow the crowd. History is full of eggheads who have made a difference in the quality of our lives. It is my desire to follow these examples..
The quintessential egghead in recent history was Adlai Stevenson 11 ( 1900-1965 ). He served as governor of Illinois ( 1949-1953 ), the US representative to the United Nations ( 1961-1965 ) and as the democratic candidate for president in both 1952 and 1956. Although unsuccessful, many feel he helped pave the way for JFK and was instrumental in creating a new identity for the Democratic Party. His biographer, Jean H Baker noted that his memory " Still seems as an expression of a different kind of politics; more issue-oriented, less compliant to the greedy ambitions of modern politicians, and less driven by public opinion polls and the media". Among Stevenson's memorable sayings are " All progress has resulted from people who take unpopular positions ". His trademark quote was " Via ovicipitum dura est ". The way of the egghead is hard.
Dr William Cottrell on the Emerts
Cove Covered Bridge spanning
the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon
River about a half mile out of the
Greenbrier Cove in the Great Smoky
Mountain Park. June 21, 2021
Highly rated by
Kirkus Reviews
Welcome to eggheadchronicles.com. I am a retired physician who practiced medicine in the Concord, North Carolina area from 1978 through 2017. During that time I encountered a myriad of personal and professional challenges that many people would consider astounding. I wrote my first book, " Confessions of an Anesthesiologist " in 2016 near the end of my career to document some of the more interesting challenges. In 2020 I wrote a second book, " Greenbrier Chronicles ", to illustrate and explain the basis for my growing concern for environmental problems including climate change.