{"id":1467,"date":"2018-12-31T17:24:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1467"},"modified":"2018-12-31T17:24:00","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:24:00","slug":"glenn-dromgooles-texas-reads-column-appears-weekly-at-lonestarliterary-com-108","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1467","title":{"rendered":"Glenn Dromgoole’s Texas Reads column appears weekly at LoneStarLiterary.com"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span><\/span>Texas Reads<\/span>>> archive<\/span><\/a><\/span>Glenn Dromgoole<\/span><\/h1>\n

10.21.2018\u00a0 Biography tells story of Dr. Red Duke<\/h1>\n

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<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u201cFrom the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, I\u2019m Dr. Red Duke\u201d<\/span> is the way Dr. Duke would sign off his popular, common-sense, straight-shooting syndicated health reports on TV for fifteen years. With his bushy mustache, cowboy hat and boots, James Henry \u201cRed\u201d Duke Jr. became one of the best-known personalities in the medical field.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bryant Boutwell,<\/span> who sat down with Duke several times in his final months for extensive interviews, has written an engaging and inspiring biography titled, naturally, I\u2019m Dr. Red Duke<\/span><\/a><\/span>(Texas A&M University Press, $30 hardcover).<\/p>\n

In addition to his public persona, Dr. Duke was a dedicated trauma surgeon, an inspiring teacher, and the founder of the Life Flight air ambulance service at Memorial Hermann Hospital and the Texas Medical Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed Duke was a one-of-a-kind, made-in-Texas original,\u201d Boutwell writes. \u201cTo meet him was to meet the Marlboro Man, Albert Schweitzer, and Teddy Roosevelt all in one \u2014 with a good dash of Wile E. Coyote stirred into the mix just for cussedness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duke, a Texas A&M yell leader who twice almost got kicked out of school, was a tank commander, seminary graduate, ordained Baptist preacher, medical missionary to Afghanistan,\u00a0 Alaska hunting guide, and fervent conservationist.<\/p>\n

In 1989, a groundswell of support backed Duke for the position of U.S. Surgeon General when Dr. Everett Koop retired, but he didn\u2019t get the appointment.<\/p>\n

Duke devoted his life to his trauma patients, sometimes even to the point of living at the hospital instead of home. \u201cHis wife and children knew he had loved them,\u201d Boutwell notes, \u201cand loved them well. But they also knew that they had not come first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trauma unit he oversaw is now the Memorial Hermann Red Duke Trauma Institute. \u201cRed\u2019s boot prints have been painted on the floor just inside the doorway of each trauma room for all to see \u2014 in red, of course,\u201d Boutwell says. \u201cPeople like to think that he is standing there in spirit, watching over every patient, every student, every caregiver.\u201d<\/p>\n

He used to ask his medical students: Who is the most important person in the operating room? The surgeon, they might reply. Wrong, he would say. It\u2019s always the patient.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with Red,\u201d a veteran nurse noted, \u201cwas always, without compromise, giving your best and putting your patient first.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Glenn Dromgoole<\/span> writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas Reads>> archiveGlenn Dromgoole 10.21.2018\u00a0 Biography tells story of Dr. Red Duke \u201cFrom the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, I\u2019m Dr. Red Duke\u201d is the way Dr. Duke would sign off his popular, common-sense, straight-shooting syndicated health reports on TV for fifteen years. With his bushy mustache, cowboy hat and boots, James […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}