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Show Journal of N euro- Ophthalmology 16( 4): 233, 1996. © 1996 Lippincott- Raven Publishers, Philadelphia For J. Lawton Smith J. LAWTON SMITH No one is entirely sure just how happy is " a dead hog in the sunshine," but our teacher and colleague Lawton Smith must come close, feet- up in retreat, eating fried chicken and hush puppies in South Carolina. After 30 years at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and various lustrous intervals at Duke, Emory, Johns Hopkins and Mass. Eye & Ear, one of the remarkable figures in ophthalmology has retired from active practice and as Founding Editor of the Journal of Neuro- Ophthalmology. For a third of a century, Lawton Smith has popularized our specialty with a style of " down in the country" solutions to diagnostic dilemmas, and with priceless anecdotes and practical management " pearls" abundantly helpful in " office practice . . . for the men in the trenches." His infectious linguistic technique of " latest gems" and Southern- fried witticisms set the pace for scores of admiring young physicians, and influenced more than one novice ( this writer included) to embrace neuro- ophthalmology as a lifelong career. Author and editor of a series of collections of current- concept essays, and father of the long-running ( almost annual since 1963) University of Miami Neuro- Ophthalmology Symposia, Lawton transported the semi- remote discipline of neuro-ophthalmology into the realm of the practical and accessible. For general practitioners and devotees alike, Lawton's inimitable recipe combined erudition, wholesome simplification and unique humor to provide an educational feast. At the December Miami Symposia, Lawton regularly convened an all- star cast, including the likes of Frank Walsh, Dave Cogan, Richard Lindenberg, Bill Hoyt, and numerous other illuminating expert lecturers. Like Will Rogers, J. L. S. never met a disease he didn't like! To his choreographic animation of in-ternuclear ophthalmoplegia, Lawton added a tongue- clucking soundtrack. His good friend and old comrade Noble David once described Lawton's portrayal of the potential tumorous expansion of pituitary adenomas: " Anyone who has ever seen Dr. Smith in conference at half crouch in his far-from- silent pantomime of the inflamed intrasellar growth, arms and legs aggressively flailing out at the imaginary regional anatomy, will not easily forget the lesson." While others formed committees, analyzed manuscript rejection rates, and agonized for and against the founding of a journal dedicated to neuro- ophthalmology, Lawton just did it! With an eclectic board of editors, and a sworn policy of " No DKAs" ( Doctor Killing Abbreviations), the first issue oiJCNO was born in March 1981, published by Masson. And practically every quarterly issue thereafter bore the unmistakable mark of the Editor- in- Chief, complete with an at- home corresponding address in South Miami, until Hurricane Andrew swept away the roof of the " Editorial Offices." Men like Lawton Smith may retire from medical practice and public authorship, but they do not diminish in stature nor just fade away. J. L. S. will be fondly remembered by the myriad patients to whom he dedicated his medical vocation and life, and by the long line of medical students, residents, fellows, faculty members, and colleagues to whom he gave so much valuable information and with such a singular delight. In admiration and affection, we thank Lawton Smith for his incalculable contributions to our discipline and to this Journal. Joel S. Glaser, M. D. for the Board of Editors |
