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Show NANOS NEWS Ivor Levy, FRCS, FRCOphth ( 1941- 2005) One evening in 1974, I met an excited and distinguished neurologist in the car park of the National Hospital in London. He was Dr. Ronald Henson, and he had just returned from an interviewing panel at The London Hospital that had appointed to the staff a visionary young ophthalmologist whose vista spread beyond the globe to encompass the complexities of the control of the visual system and its disorders. His name was Ivor Levy, and he was to serve the London Hospital for 25 years. The appointment of aneuro-ophthalmologist was significant as this hospital had, a century earlier, appointed Dr. Hughlings Jackson, one of the first neurologists to use the ophthalmoscope and who, through his friendship with Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson, had gained a link with Moorfields Eye Hospital. Ivor was later appointed to Moorfields. Ivor was born and educated in Manchester, England. A sharp mind and quick intellect led to his admission to Pembroke College, Oxford. Leaving Pembroke with two class honors in physiology, he followed the hallowed path to take up his clinical studies at the London Hospital, qualifying in 1966. His early appointments in ophthalmology and neurology indicated a predilection for these subjects, and in 1970 he commenced his three- year residency at Moorfields Eye Hospital. In 1973, he became a neuro- ophthalmology fellow at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, under the direction of Joel S. Glaser, MD, who, together with J. Lawton Smith, MD, was promoting the importance and excitement of neuro- ophthalmology to a receptive medical world. His fellowship terminated with a two- week period at the ultimate finishing school in San Francisco with William F. Hoyt, MD, where he recounted that, much to his chagrin, he saw his inadequate visual fields shredded " before my very eyes." Returning to London, he established neuro-ophthalmology clinics at the London Hospital and close working relationships with dedicated neurologists and neurosurgeons. He immersed himself in clinical work and was never happier than when protecting a patient from unnecessary surgical intervention. He was a great attendee at meetings not only related to neuro- ophthalmology but to medical history, his special interest. At one time, he even took up vitreous surgery and laser refractive surgery. Throughout his life, he remained a consummate bibliophile, his library ultimately consisting of nearly 10,000 uncatalogued volumes. His flat was eventually transformed into a library with books in every room, including the bathroom and refrigerator. An eccentric and enthusiastic physician, he engendered strong affection and provided many amusing anecdotes supported by a wry sense of humor. Long remembered will be his comedy double act with Norman J. Schatz, MD, which became a post- prandial requisite at neuro- ophthalmological gatherings. His early demise leaves his many friends and colleagues deeply saddened. Michael D. Sanders, FRCP, FRCS, Hon FRCOphth St. Thomas' Hospital The National Hospital London, England J Neuro- Ophthalmol, Vol. 25, No. 3, 2005 251 |