As many of you know, I am Jewish albeit not very religious. Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most important day of the Jewish calendar. It is a day of fasting and reflection of the year that past and the year to come. On Yom Kippur, an important moment in the service is to exercise our power of memory by memorializing people we have lost…basically to bring them back to life in our mind’s eye, even for a fleeting moment. The moment is called Yizkor which translates “to remember”. Normally, I think of my parents, family, and friends (fortunately just a few) who have died. This year all I could really think about was Ron Litman and Ryan Cook and the vast number of our fellow citizens who died of Covid. Traditionally, during Yizkor, we commit to offering charity in the names of our lost ones. Through helping others we make the memories of those we lost more tangible and a blessing. Sooo, I’m reprinting the In Memoriums that were posted in the PAAD for Ron and Ryan. As for charity, when Ron started the PAAD he asked for donations to SPA…I’ve recently also suggested donating to LIFEBOX – an international non-profit working to make surgery and anesthesia safer on a global scale. https://www.lifebox.org/purchase-oximeter. I know this can be done thru Substack the program we use to distribute the PAAD. I will ask John Fiadjoe to restablish this. Myron
In Memoriam – Ronald S. Litman DO
Myron Yaster MD and John Fiadjoe MD
The world and the extended pediatric anesthesiology community lost a cherished friend, mentor, and educator when Ron Litman passed away April 21, 2021 after a year-long struggle with AML. Ron was a long-time member of SPA and an inspirational pediatric anesthesiologist with a long and distinguished career first at the University of Rochester and for the last 20+ years at CHOP. For his entire career, Ron was a guiding light of clinical excellence, a dedicated mentor of all from undergraduate students to anesthesia trainees and faculty colleagues. His unending inquisitiveness and challenging of established dogma led him to innovative clinical research investigations, in which he collaborated with those from many fields outside pediatric anesthesiology (and outside CHOP), from adult pulmonologists at Johns Hopkins, to pediatric oncologists, otolaryngologists and sleep medicine specialists. His innovative findings have educated us all about everything from airway anatomy under anesthesia to pathophysiology of mediastinal masses and malignant hyperthermia. His interest in pharmacology and medication safety led him to leadership advisory roles at the FDA, culminating in his appointment as the Chair of the FDA Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee and the medical directorship at the Institute for Safe Medication Practice. His interest in malignant hyperthermia led him to an enduring collaboration with Henry Rosenberg and a fundamental role in MHAUS and the MH help line. He trained and inspired a generation of pediatric anesthesiologists. A voracious reader, both medical and non-medical, his love of learning and interest in medico-legal issues led him to study law as applied to medicine, receiving a Masters of Law at the University of Pennsylvania. Ron also devoted much time to volunteer pediatric surgical mission around the world. A premier educator/lecturer he was much sought-after speaker at meetings, both anesthesiology and other specialties. As was his custom, he made friends world-wide wherever he traveled and picked up mentees as he went. A pied piper of pediatric anesthesiology, but also Ron was a devoted father, husband, friend, tennis and squash player and filled his and our days with wisdom, laughter and love. May his memory be a blessing for us all.
Ron himself expressed his love and devotion to his life’s work and colleagues best in an email he sent to inform the CHOP department of his diagnosis last July – “Except for the obvious burden on my family, I don’t really feel that sad about having such bad luck – I’m mostly thankful that I’ve had the incredible good luck to have a 30-year career where going to work every day is so much fun and fulfilling and impact so many children’s lives throughout the years, and getting to work alongside so many wonderful colleagues. Very few people in the world get to have that kind of good luck, and with a little more, I’ll be back in the OR in 2021.”
In Memoriam – David Ryan Cook, MD
In Memoriam: Ryan Cook: A Pioneering Giant in Our Specialty
Myron Yaster MD Peter J. Davis MD
Franklyn P Cladis, Christine L Mai, Myron Yaster, Peter J Davis. The advancement of pediatric anesthesia pharmacology: David Ryan Cook (scions, serendipity, and six degrees of separation). Paediatr Anaesth 2019 Feb;29(2):114-119.PMID: 30414345
We lost a pioneering giant and dear friend this weekend, Dr. David Ryan Cook, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh and Chief of Anesthesiology at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (1977-1999). A pioneer in the field of pediatric anesthesiology and pharmacology. Ryan contributed significantly to the understanding of pharmacologic differences among infants, children, and adults. His work as a clinician-scientist, educator, and mentor defined the pharmacology of many of the anesthetic agents we continue to use today. He brought science to the art of anesthesia and enhanced the safety of pediatric perioperative care.
In addition to excelling as a clinician‐researcher, Ryan was also an administrator, educator, and leader. He was a “doctor’s doctor.” He contributed to the training of hundreds of residents and fellows in anesthesiology and pediatrics, including both of us (Myron Yaster and Peter Davis) and Carol Lake. Although impossible to name all of the folks he trained, it would be impossible for us to not mention Drs. Larry Borland, Susan Woelfel, Barbara Brandom, Franklyn Cladis, and Frank McGowan. In 2009, he was recognized for his contributions to the field of pediatric anesthesiology with the Robert M. Smith award from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
On a more personal note, anyone who has ever met Dr. Cook knows of his legendary wit and humor. He was a master story‐teller, with a low bull shit tolerance level, who kept the audience on the edge of their seat asking, “what happens next?” His wise and sage advice from years of experience are best summarized in a few of his “words of wisdom” over a fine cigar and cognac. As we write this, we can still hear his laugh.
We would urge all of you to read our interview with him published in the J Paediatric Anaesthesia as part of the ongoing history project. Based on a 2017 interview with Ryan, this article outlines the development of his career and his contributions to the field of anesthesiology and pharmacology.
Myron Yaster MD