Background
Harold L. Klawans was born on November 1, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
University of Michigan, Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Harold L. Klawans attended the University of Michigan from 1955 to 1958.
University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, United States
Harold L. Klawans received his medical degree at the University of Illinois in 1962.
(This collection of essays and vignettes is a product of t...)
This collection of essays and vignettes is a product of the author's lifelong interest in the history of neurology and medicine. The judicious choice of subject matter and readable style reflect Dr. Klawan's versatile talents as neurologist, teacher, medical historian, social observer, and narrator. The book encompasses a diverse range of topics such as the neuroendocrine basis of the Emperor Maximus' political behavior, Sigmund Freud's explorations of cocaine, early case reports of Huntington's chorea, and the discovery of spectacles. A major theme underlying these essays is the role of the medical investigator as both participants in a reformer of his society's practices and prejudices. All physicians and historians will find this book fascinating, enlightening, and entertaining look at the evolution of the medical profession in its social context.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0890046840/?tag=2022091-20
1982
(A talented and unconventional doctor attempts to uncover ...)
A talented and unconventional doctor attempts to uncover the causes of the horrifying, unexplainable incidents that are terrorizing a midwestern hospital.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809257610/?tag=2022091-20
1982
(The author details the strange and often frightening resu...)
The author details the strange and often frightening results occurring when things go wrong in the brain, with case histories and diagnoses of historical figures.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809247275/?tag=2022091-20
1988
(Combining real-life cases of medical detection and courtr...)
Combining real-life cases of medical detection and courtroom drama, the author explains how doctors arrive at diagnoses, and how physicians can assist in a patient's search for truth.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316496839/?tag=2022091-20
1991
(The celebrated bestselling author of Toscanini's Fumble a...)
The celebrated bestselling author of Toscanini's Fumble and Newton's Madness regales readers with 27 gripping, sometimes bizarre stories that cut to the heart of medical ethics. Dr. Klawans takes to task the entire structure of modern medicine, questioning what it does to us as human beings. He covers hero-worship of doctors, dying at the hospital instead of at home among familiar faces, and more.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1557785260/?tag=2022091-20
1992
(The author who told us why Toscanini fumbled and why Newt...)
The author who told us why Toscanini fumbled and why Newton raved takes us on a tour of the great brains of great athletes - baseball players and basketball players, track stars and golfers - to show how both accomplishment and tragedy may be the result of some unusual neurons. In Why Michael Couldn't Hit, Dr. Klawans joins his two lifelong passions for neurological discovery and sports. And his arguments about the way the two are linked will give every sports fan a new outlook on what happens on the track, the baseball diamond, or in the arena. A deft and fascinating exploration, the book reveals that the twists and turns of athletes' brains have at least as much to do with their stardom as the strength and coordination of their muscles. It's an entirely original perspective on a topic that has always captured the American imagination: the breathtaking sight of athletic grace, force, and skill.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007VOTA4A/?tag=2022091-20
1996
(Harold Klawans' most recent work offers a rare glimpse in...)
Harold Klawans' most recent work offers a rare glimpse into the world of the physician-writer, one whose passion for sports, especially baseball, is woven throughout. He deals with the essence of Chekhov's Lie: the myth that it is possible to do equal justice to one's wife and mistress - medicine and literature (or is it literature and medicine?).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1888799129/?tag=2022091-20
1997
(When female P.I. Dennie Cater embarks on a search for evi...)
When female P.I. Dennie Cater embarks on a search for evidence in a lawsuit, she doesn't realize she is opening the doors to an inferno. A murdered psychotherapist leads Dennie to more murder, satanic rituals, witchcraft and more twists than a cyclone, and she must stay one step ahead to stay alive. Despite the help of handsome police lieutenant Tom Ward, the puzzle only gets more and more mysterious-and when Dennie's own sisters disappear, Dennie learns that one of them could be the killer. A crackerjack mystery And Mother Makes Thirteen draws the readers into the bizarre, yet utterly believable, the world of multipersonality disorder that is at the core of this chilling novel. From the first page, Klawans takes hold of the reader, and he doesn't let go until the last word when his tale reaches a gripping and thoroughly satisfying conclusion.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188879920X/?tag=2022091-20
1999
(Noted neurologist Harold Klawans presents thirteen though...)
Noted neurologist Harold Klawans presents thirteen thought-provoking clinical tales describing a range of neurological problems and how he figured out what caused them. Cases include a young girl with arrested language acquisition, a peculiar case of "painful foot and moving toe syndrome," and an aphasic orchestra conductor.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393048314/?tag=2022091-20
2000
(A master neurologist's clinical tales - both funny and pr...)
A master neurologist's clinical tales - both funny and profound - of the evolution of the brain. As a sympathetic - and brilliant - brain detective, Harold Klawans treated people with a huge array of troubles, all of which boiled down to one complaint: something was wrong with their brains. From the woman suffering from "painful foot and moving toe syndrome" to the Indiana farmer who contacted a variant of mad cow disease from his herds of livestock, Klawans deduced a great deal from his patients, not only about the immediate causes of their ailments but about the evolutionary underpinnings of their behavior.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393321843/?tag=2022091-20
2001
Harold L. Klawans was born on November 1, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
After attending the University of Michigan from 1955 to 1958, Harold L. Klawans received his medical degree at the University of Illinois in 1962.
Dr. Harold Leo Klawans began his medical career as an intern at Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, in 1962 and completed residencies in neurology at both the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and Presbyterian-St. Luke’s. In 1968 he became an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Illinois Medical School and held subsequent academic positions at Rush University Medical College and the University of Chicago. Since 1977 he had been a professor of neurology and pharmacology at Rush University Medical College. A founder of the Movement Disorder Clinic at Rush University, Klawans was also the president of the United Parkinson Foundation and had been among the first in the United States to treat Parkinson’s disease with the drug L-dopa.
A prolific contributor to scientific journals and the author of texts in neurology and pharmacology, Klawans had also served as the co-editor of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology. He had been drawn to medicine in part through his interest in detection, and in the 1980s Klawans turned to writing mystery fiction. His works in that genre include Sins of Commission (1982), The Jerusalem Code (1988), and Deadly Medicine (1990). Beginning with Toscanini’s Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical Neurology (1989) and Newton’s Madness: Further Tales of Clinical Neurology (1990), Klawans issued a number of medical works directed at non-specialist readers. In these works, he outlined case histories of individuals suffering from neurological disorders and discussed various aspects of brain development and functioning. His Why Michael Couldn’t Hit and Other Tales of the Neurology of Sports (1996) discussed skills acquisition in a consideration of the athletic abilities of basketball star Michael Jordan and his failed attempt to play professional baseball. In addition, Klawans was the author of Informed Consent (1986), Trials of an Expert Witness: Tales of Clinical Neurology and the Law (1991), and Life, Death and in Between (1992).
Dr. Harold Leo Klawans died on March 30, 1998, aged 60 after a heart attack in his home in Munster, Indiana.
(The author who told us why Toscanini fumbled and why Newt...)
1996(Combining real-life cases of medical detection and courtr...)
1991(The celebrated bestselling author of Toscanini's Fumble a...)
1992(Noted neurologist Harold Klawans presents thirteen though...)
2000(Harold Klawans' most recent work offers a rare glimpse in...)
1997(The author details the strange and often frightening resu...)
1988(A talented and unconventional doctor attempts to uncover ...)
1982(This collection of essays and vignettes is a product of t...)
1982(A master neurologist's clinical tales - both funny and pr...)
2001(More engaging anecdotes from the writing neurologist.)
1990(When female P.I. Dennie Cater embarks on a search for evi...)
1999(Dr. Paul Richardson receives a puzzling message from a te...)
1988Dr. Klawans believed that neurological diseases sometimes are mistaken for psychiatric disorders. The unbalanced behavior of mathematician and scientist Sir Isaac Newton is one example that he chronicled in his book "Newton's Madness." To avert such a mistake, Dr. Klawans always disregarded a patient's psychiatric history before diagnosing the patient. To help get a proper diagnosis for new patients, Dr. Klawans relied on his powers of observation, without the patient's knowledge. He would walk into the waiting room and observe his patients, looking at them while pretending to read a newspaper or check records.
Quotations:
"Frequently, I know a lot of what I'm going to know even before I say hello to the patient."
"One of the aspects that attracted me to neurology was the puzzle-solving, the mystery-solving, the diagnosis. There are mysteries in all areas of medicine, but traditionally it has been especially true of neurology."
Klawans' interest in observation and a fascination with solving mysteries initially drew Dr. Klawans to neurology.
Quotes from others about the person
"He was one of the first American neurologists to use L-dopa (in the 1960s), and he then wrote a large volume of papers about new treatments for Parkinson's disease. So, in terms of thinking about Parkinson's disease in Chicago, I can't think of anybody at a higher level than Harold Klawans." - Dr. Christopher Goetz, associate chairman of the department of neurological sciences at Rush.
"Taking on the interesting question of why such a talented athlete such as Jordan could not succeed at baseball was typical of Dr. Klawans' creative and inquisitive mind. Dr. Klawans made neurology seem so much more understandable to her and scores of other non-physicians." - Jeanne Lee, director of patient services at the United Parkinson Foundation.
"One of his greatest achievements, I think, was how well he taught so many people. He made them excited about neurology and made them excited about medicine. Dr. Klawans was always an advanced thinker. He could take an idea and brainstorm it out into areas that no one had ever thought of." - Jeanne Lee, director of patient services at the United Parkinson Foundation.