(Stroke. 1999;30:690.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.
Letters to the Editor |
Letters to the Editor
A Letter of Appreciation: The Contributions of Dr C.G. Drake
To the Editor:
Dr Charles Drake was never a member of the Editorial Board of Stroke. An official obituary is not anticipated. Accordingly, I ask of the editor-in-chief the acceptance of a short letter of appreciation of his life and the contributions he made to disorders of the cerebral circulation.
Charles George Drake was born in Windsor, Ontario, on July 21, 1920. He died of a massive pulmonary embolus on September 15, 1998, a complication of lung cancer. A memorial tribute held on November 1 was attended by his extended family as well as by hundreds of friends and colleagues from five continents.
Drake graduated in 1944 from the Medical School of The University of
Western Ontario, located in the small city of London, Ontario, Canada.
Neither the school nor the city were well known for medical
contributions at that time, let alone renowned. His first faculty
appointment in 1952 coincided with the launching of his practice of
neurosurgery. Within 20 years, his skill as a surgeon and his
leadership in his profession were such that he was known as a person of
exceptional abilities throughout the neurosurgical world. By this time,
too, and largely as a result of his own endeavors, his medical school
and his city had become synonymous with excellence in the field of
treatment for cerebral disorders. He had been elected president of the
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, president of the
American Association of Neurological Surgeons, president of the
American College of