As a long-distance curator since 1987, I marveled at the deftness with which Wood Library-Museum (WLM) Librarian Patrick Sim, M.L.S. (1936 to 2010, upper left), could assist historical researchers. Sadly, by early 2010, Patrick was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After moderating a conference in Ireland, I ferried eight miles off County Kerry’s coast to the island of Skellig Michael, years before Star War’s Mark Hamill would do so to film The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Atop this 714-foot pyramid (backdrop) of Old Red Sandstone—treasured by bibliophiles like Patrick—Irish monks had dodged Viking raiders to keep the flame of knowledge burning during the Dark Ages. I ascended 600-plus rocky steps to pray for Patrick at a stony shrine, an emailed image of which helped him rally, briefly, ten years ago this month. Years after Patrick’s passing, his brilliant successor, Karen Bieterman, M.L.I.S. (WLM Manager then Director, 2011 to 2019; upper right), and I continued to feel that Patrick’s “force was with” us among the galleries and library stacks he so treasured at the WLM. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
As a long-distance curator since 1987, I marveled at the deftness with which Wood Library-Museum (WLM) Librarian Patrick Sim, M.L.S. (1936 to 2010, upper left), could assist historical researchers. Sadly, by early 2010, Patrick was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After moderating a conference in Ireland, I ferried eight miles off County Kerry’s coast to the island of Skellig Michael, years before Star War’s Mark Hamill would do so to film The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Atop this 714-foot pyramid (backdrop) of Old Red Sandstone—treasured by bibliophiles like Patrick—Irish monks had dodged Viking raiders to keep the flame of knowledge burning during the Dark Ages. I ascended 600-plus rocky steps to pray for Patrick at a stony shrine, an emailed image of which helped him rally, briefly, ten years ago this month. Years after Patrick’s passing, his brilliant successor, Karen Bieterman, M.L.I.S. (WLM Manager then Director, 2011 to 2019; upper right), and I continued to feel that Patrick’s “force was with” us among the galleries and library stacks he so treasured at the WLM. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
