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John Gordon Stewart, MA, MB, ChB, FRCR, DMRT
594
CLINICAL RADIOLOGY
OBITUARY John Gordon Stewart, MA, MB, ChB, FRCR, DMRT Gordon Stewart died suddenly on 22 March 1977 at the age of 56. He was born in Peterhead and his early years were all spent in the north-east of Scotland, factors which had a lasting effect on his character. He obtained his MA, with first class honours in mathematics and natural philosophy, before war service with the RAF in India. After the war he studied medicine in Aberdeen and graduated, with commendation, in 1950. After holding appointments as house physician and house surgeon in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary he came to the Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute in Manchester in 1951 and spent the rest o f his working life there. In 1956 he obtained his F F R and he was appointed consultant in 1958. Gordon made a powerful contribution to the Christie Hospital style of radiotherapy. The development of megavoltage techniques, especially the use of wedge filters, owed much to his involvement in the 1950s. He was the author of numerous papers on techniques and later on the results of treatment and on the philosophy of the management of patients, especially of those with head and neck cancer. In latter years, as a member of the Neutron Therapy Committee of the EORTC Fast Neutron Therapy Project Group, he gave much thought to the problems of neutron therapy. As part of this interest he was engaged in collaborative radiobiological research with members of the staff of the Clinical Research Laboratories and of the Paterson Laboratories. His more general interest was reflected in his membership of the Association of Head and Neck Oncologists. Most of his working days were devoted directly to his patients, either in the Christie Hospital, the Skin Hospital or in Wigan, but he was also a most effective and challenging teacher who will be remembered with great affection by a generation of postgraduate students. As a man he was generous and hospitable to an extreme degree but he was also a most positive character who was well able to sustain an original or unpopular view point in the face of all opposition. He placed honesty and candour above all other virtues and never hesitated, in fact regarded it as his duty, to be completely truthful, however painful, to his friends. One could differ from him, and argue
vigorously with him, without losing one's affection for him. He enjoyed life in all its variety but most of his pleasure was taken in the company of his family and friends, making music, on the golf course, at the bridge table or in simple good fellowship but always as a participant rather than as a spectator. He had a robust sense of fun and took especial delight in sustained leg-pulls, often protracted through correspondence, over several weeks. During the past three years he has continued to work without a trace of self-pity, despite a most trying illness, and was working normally the day before he died. The College has lost a most able Fellow and the Christie Hospital an irreplaceable consultant. We offer our deepest sympathy to his widow and three sons. L D. H. Todd A. I4I. Jackson
CLINICAL RADIOLOGY
OBITUARY John Gordon Stewart, MA, MB, ChB, FRCR, DMRT Gordon Stewart died suddenly on 22 March 1977 at the age of 56. He was born in Peterhead and his early years were all spent in the north-east of Scotland, factors which had a lasting effect on his character. He obtained his MA, with first class honours in mathematics and natural philosophy, before war service with the RAF in India. After the war he studied medicine in Aberdeen and graduated, with commendation, in 1950. After holding appointments as house physician and house surgeon in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary he came to the Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute in Manchester in 1951 and spent the rest o f his working life there. In 1956 he obtained his F F R and he was appointed consultant in 1958. Gordon made a powerful contribution to the Christie Hospital style of radiotherapy. The development of megavoltage techniques, especially the use of wedge filters, owed much to his involvement in the 1950s. He was the author of numerous papers on techniques and later on the results of treatment and on the philosophy of the management of patients, especially of those with head and neck cancer. In latter years, as a member of the Neutron Therapy Committee of the EORTC Fast Neutron Therapy Project Group, he gave much thought to the problems of neutron therapy. As part of this interest he was engaged in collaborative radiobiological research with members of the staff of the Clinical Research Laboratories and of the Paterson Laboratories. His more general interest was reflected in his membership of the Association of Head and Neck Oncologists. Most of his working days were devoted directly to his patients, either in the Christie Hospital, the Skin Hospital or in Wigan, but he was also a most effective and challenging teacher who will be remembered with great affection by a generation of postgraduate students. As a man he was generous and hospitable to an extreme degree but he was also a most positive character who was well able to sustain an original or unpopular view point in the face of all opposition. He placed honesty and candour above all other virtues and never hesitated, in fact regarded it as his duty, to be completely truthful, however painful, to his friends. One could differ from him, and argue
vigorously with him, without losing one's affection for him. He enjoyed life in all its variety but most of his pleasure was taken in the company of his family and friends, making music, on the golf course, at the bridge table or in simple good fellowship but always as a participant rather than as a spectator. He had a robust sense of fun and took especial delight in sustained leg-pulls, often protracted through correspondence, over several weeks. During the past three years he has continued to work without a trace of self-pity, despite a most trying illness, and was working normally the day before he died. The College has lost a most able Fellow and the Christie Hospital an irreplaceable consultant. We offer our deepest sympathy to his widow and three sons. L D. H. Todd A. I4I. Jackson