- © 2007 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
I read CMAJ enthusiastically, although now I am mostly retired. Ursus' column,1 however, was a longstanding contradiction. It was related to The Left Atrium, in a way, but yet was different. Although I would hurriedly open each issue of CMAJ when it arrived and read Ursus' column avidly, often I would put it down after I had consumed it and muse, “Whatever was…?” Then I would turn to the Deaths page for reassurance that neither my friends nor I were listed. Finally, I would relax into the scientific papers or clinical studies and often the lead editorial, but the slight anxiety engendered by Ursus would linger.
I am not sure when I first read his column. I am not even sure what I know about him, although the personal revelations were surprisingly detailed. Will he be calm, now that he cannot lay each month's trials off on us? How did his colleagues feel about his exposé of their relations again and again? Surely they must have muttered, “Oh, that's just Ursus!”
Perhaps we might have become less involved with his life had he continued to pursue his youthful passion for communicating in verse, or perhaps we might have become more enchanted. Oh gracious, just let him know that we shall miss him. For his own peace of mind, he must continue to write, as I am sure he will.
Footnotes
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Competing interests: None declared.
REFERENCE
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