Prof JB Lyons: Prof JB Lyons, physician, author and medical historian, died on October 25th, aged 85 years. A gracious man and caring physician, his published work was marked by a depth of knowledge, sophistication and culture that made him one of the greatest Irish medical writers of the 20th century.
JB Lyons, or Jack as he was widely known, was born on the July 22nd, 1922, in the village of Kilkelly, Co Mayo, where his father was the dispensary medical officer. He was educated at the local national school and Castleknock College. It was during his last year at Castleknock that he developed what was to become a lifelong interest in Anglo-Irish literature. However, he decided to study medicine rather than literature at University College Dublin.
While still an undergraduate, he found a book in his father's study which was to have a major influence on his life and career. The book, Counsels and Ideals in Medical Practice by Sir William Osler, demonstrated that it was possible to combine a successful career in both medicine and literature.
Following graduation in 1945, Jack worked in a number of hospitals in Ireland and England and he began to develop a special interest in neurology. He became a member of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1949 and in the same year he was awarded an MD by the National University of Ireland.
Books played an important role in shaping Jack's career. After reading as a student The Surgeon's Log by the Irish author and doctor, James Johnston Abraham, he nurtured a desire to spend some time as a ship's surgeon. He decided to take a sabbatical year in 1949 to fulfil this ambition. He was appointed surgeon to a cargo liner, the MV Soudan, which was sailing to Japan.
The ship called at several eastern ports including Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama, Bombay, Alexandria and Tangier. Subsequently he was appointed surgeon to the Royal Mail's MV Highland Monarch for a journey to South America which stopped at cities such as Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. This experience gave him a love of travel which remained with him throughout his life.
On his return to England he took up a hospital position in Manchester where he continued to develop his general medical and neurological interests. In 1950 he married Muriel Jones whom he described, in an autobiographical sketch written in 2004, as "an adorable wife, a Welsh girl bubbling with laughter". He was appointed as a consultant physician to St Michael's Hospital, Dún Laoghaire in 1955. Ten years later he was also appointed physician to Mercer's Hospital.
It was during his early years in Dublin that he wrote three novels, A Question of Surgery (1960) South Downs General Hospital (1961) and When Doctors Differ (1963), which were based on his experiences at sea and in English hospitals. He wrote under the nom de plume Michael Fitzwilliam, a name drawn from the hospital where he worked (St Michael's) and Fitzwilliam Square where he had consulting rooms. All three books were published by Jarrolds of London and A Question of Surgery was also translated into Dutch and German.
After the publication of his three novels he switched his interest to biography which he described as "a congenial occupation for a physician" as taking a history of a patient's symptoms was an essential step in medical diagnosis. He began with a biography of Sir Victor Horsley, a pioneering London neurosurgeon, and the book The Citizen Surgeon was published in 1966.
Jack became increasingly interested in doctors and medical students who were also distinguished writers. His first subject was James Joyce who had studied medicine for a short period in the University College Medical School in Cecilia Street or, as Joyce expressed it himself in Finnegans Wake, "then he went to Cecilia's treat on his solo to pick up Galen." This led to a lifelong scholarly interest in Joyce; his book James Joyce and Medicine was published by Dolmen Press in 1973.
Jack also began to write regular articles on aspects of medical history in learned medical journals and periodicals. He was appointed professor of the history of medicine in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1975, a post he would hold for 25 years.
He was awarded a scholarship by the World Health Organisation to visit neurological centres in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco. On his return he wrote A Primer of Neurology which was published in London in 1974.
Jack wrote 15 books on different aspects of medicine and literature. His Brief Lives of Irish Doctors, published in 1978, became a reference book for all those interested in the history of Irish medicine. He also wrote a biography of Oliver St John Gogarty, The Man of Many Talents (1980), a collection of essays entitled Thrust Syphilis Down to Hell and other Rejoyceana (1988) and a history of Mercer's Hospital (1991). He considered The Enigma of Tom Kettle (1983) his best biography.
Jack lectured on Joyce and other topics at venues around the world. He was a regular contributor to Sunday Miscellany on Radio Éireann and he delivered a Thomas Davis lecture on the last illness of Parnell. He resigned from his medical posts in 1987, saying to a friend, "I can now become a full-time writer."
The many books and journal publications which issued from his pen over the last 20 years prove that he took his vocation seriously. Several younger colleagues were inspired to follow him into the terrain "where medicine marches with literature".
A book entitled Borderlands: Essays on Literature and Medicine was published in 2002 to mark Jack's 80th birthday with contributions by eminent writers reflecting the diversity of Jack's interests. He is survived by his wife Muriel and their three children, David, Kate and Jane.
John "Jack" B Lyons: born July 22nd, 1922; died October 25th, 2007