Editors's notes on Gary Lockhart's health books:
|
Gary Lockhart's books are being jointly edited by the deceased author's sister, Ann J. Lockhart; and the author's friend, Arthur Lee Jacobson. We must explain several things to the reader.
|
1) ARRANGEMENT. Gary's ideal, for which he strived in all of his books, was a volume of some 50 to 60 chapters of four to six pages, amply illustrated. To fit this overall format, he divided his subject matter in such ways as was necessary to fit this format. However, some topics intrinsically are more --and others less-- extensive in terms of what Gary thought worth reporting. Therefore, some chapters are relatively brief and simple; others crowded and complicated.
|
2) SCHOLARLY FOCUS. Gary was an accomplished amateur scholar, with commendable, indefatigable efforts over decades to survey health literature. From his extensive gleanings he chronicled the history and highlighted many lost accounts and techniques. Because the whole scope of health was his purview, and he was supplying both an historical background and trying to indicate contemporary practice, he inevitably made errors in various ways --such as a narrowly-focused specialist would have avoided. Moreover, he was not a health professional, but more of a reporter.
|
3) BIBLIOGRAPHY. Gary was content in his bibliography to cite --in effect-- his suggested reading, rather than a footnoted reference to every statement he researched. And even though the Latin abbreviation et al. means "and others," Gary's bibliography cites only the first author, whereas jointly authored articles should have had the co-author credited, too. Moreover, Gary doesn't indicate, when he quotes foreign writing, whether the English translation is his, or another's, and literal or paraphrased. In an effort to help his English-reading audience, he translated foreign journal article titles. This makes it difficult, or impossible, to find them using internet search browsers.
|
4) MISSING CONTEXT. Because Gary desired his writing to flow smoothly, in a non-technical way, and his focus was on the story and experiences, he was negligent in supplying context for most of the doctors and writers he mentions. In other words, he usually does not inform the reader what location a given doctor practiced in, nor the years in which the experimentation occurred. Nor are his chapters consistent in chronology. Mixed together in a chapter may be North American and European doctors; the 19th and 20th centuries. As editors, we have partly rectified this; to do so consistently would be too time-demanding.
|
5) VERSION DIFFERENCES. Gary died in 2001 leaving often more than one version of much of his work. As editors, we must judge what material is best to include or exclude. Usually we present more rather than less, such as supplying both a "short" and "long" introduction to a given book.
|
6) MISSING MATERIAL. Gary intended copious illustrations, with helpful captions. Also he would certainly have indexed each book, and likely supplied glossaries, as well as cross-references to material in his other books. All of this is desirable. The reality thus far, is that we two editors are only slowly editing and laying out the texts of one book at a time --and wholly as part-time volunteers. Thus, anything in addition, is not likely to be done by us.
|
7) DISCLAIMER. Gary's books are not intended as medical or health guides. They certainly include valuable learning, much of which is potentially or actually applicable in healing. His books are not guides; they are meant to entertain, inspire, encourage, both lay readers and medical professionals. As editors, we helped render Gary's writing more consistent and readable, but we had nothing to do with the original research, the choice of inclusion or formatting, and in no sense are we advocating or suggesting that readers try anything without qualified medical supervision.
|
Back |
|
|
