Monday, May 29, 2023

A master of the second opinion

 Melvyn celebrated his 92nd birthday Sunday.

Dr. Schreiber is still practicing and teaching medicine at the University of Texas’s first medical school. He’s a radiologist, and experience counts when you are looking for clues in images.

In an earlier life, we met with a couple of other fellows for a weekly lunch. No talk of weather, baseball, politics or personal aches and pains. We tried to stick to books and ideas. Sometimes one of us would talk about an interesting book. Sometimes someone would mention an idea that seemed half-baked, and collectively we’d try to improve it.

When the Wise Woman and I left Galveston, Melvyn and I continued the conversation in letters.

Just the other day, I ran across an idea in my reading. It struck me as ingenious and brilliant — but not quite right. And so I’ll write Melvyn. I want to see what he’ll make of it.

If you have a friend who is learned and wise, don’t miss an opportunity to have a conversation.

• Sources and notes: Melvyn appears in these notes many times. One example: “The pleasures of old-fashioned letters,” Nov. 18, 2021.

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