Re: GG 20th death Celebration

[Kate Clunies-Ross <goldbergs@TALK21.COM>]

Original messages:-

> GG's habits reminds me of a story: When Sylvia Plath's
> father, Otto Plath (a gifted linguist and entomologist)
>refused to be treated when diagnosed with diabetes--later
>died of complications from his gangrene, the doctor who
>had to amputate his leg said under his breath, "How can a
>man so brilliant be so stupid?"

> What Gould's habits do you have in mind? I thought he was > paranoiacally
>careful not to fall ill?
>
As Anne Marble has mentioned, Gould did have a somewhat unusual lifestyle,
(permit me a little British understatement there!) and many people have
assumed that this contributed to his early death.

But I think it is worth remembering that at autopsy, no actual cause was
found for the condition that actually killed him. His blood pressure had
never been  _that_  high (despite his morbid concern with measuring it) and
despite his weird diet, it appears his heart and arteries were in reasonable
shape for a man of fifty.  (This is all mentioned in the Ostwald biography,
and although I have reservations about some of Ostwald's ideas about Gould,
he was himself a doctor and I assume his statements about medical reports
are accurate)

Gould actually died following a thrombosis in the cavernous sinus, which is
quite deep under the brain. The vessels that drain blood from the brain pass
through this area. and the pressure on them caused by the clot apparently
caused a further haemorrhage within the brain himself, and  he subsequently
died.

A clot in the cavernous sinus is a rare condition. It can be caused by
infection, but again, no sign of any infection was found. (However,  the
antibiotics given to him when the diagnosis was made may have hidden this).

In the circumstances I would hazard a guess that Gould's strange habits were
not the direct cause of his death. (I have my own theories about this, and
if anyone is interested, I described them in my first-ever F-minor post in
late  April 2000) He certainly was a hypochondriac (though whether his
actions were typical of hypochondriacs in geberal, as Anne asked, I do not
know) nut even hypochondriacs can be genuinely ill sometimes. It is a sad
pity that none of the doctors whom he consulted ever made a definite
diagnosis of what was wrong with him. Maybe they found him an exasperating
patient; i only hope that auch exasperation did not blind them to the fact
that he was  truly a sick man.

For sick he was...The post that initiated this thread discussed his
appearence as he recorded the 1981 Goldbergs. I have shown this  video to
various people, and their reaction has always been the same; that they were
in some indefinable way looking at a very sick man, even a man close to
death. Yet wasn't this recording made some 18 months before he died?  My
mother was one of those who saw the video. "How sad" she said, "how fragile
he looks."


Kate