The Stone Elephant

The author's naval career included staff assignments at four major hospitals; a hospital ship, the USS Repose off VietNam '68-'69; and the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. He then returned to Norfolk, Virginia and continued his neurosurgical career in private practice and as Professor of Clinical Neurosurgery at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.From his challenging and extensive experience he transcends the too often impersonal world of medicine with honed skill, mixing poignancy and humor, to tell the story of a marine intelligence officer surviving a serious head injury, entering the political arena, and progressing to the White House.The author concludes the story by addressing America's healthcare problem in his graphic and verisimilar style.

Buck Rish, M.D. is a geniune son of the South, born in North Carolina, educated in Kentucky and Alabama, returned to North Carolina for college and medical school at Wake Forest University, and later to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, for his neurosurgical training.