Harold L. Klawans (1937–1998) was an academic
neurologist
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...
who launched a parallel career as a writer.
Life
Klawans was born in Chicago. After graduating with an
M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
degree from the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
in 1962, Dr. Klawans became a neurologist and professor of neurology and pharmacology at
Rush Medical College
Rush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, located in the Illinois Medical District, about 3 km (2 miles) west of the Loop in Chicago. Offering a full-time Doctor of Medicine program, the school was chartered in 1837, and ...
. He published in the fields of extrapyramidal disorders, neuropharmacology, and medical history and served as editor of ''The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology'' and of the encyclopedic ''Handbook of Clinical Neurology''
while publishing several novels.
His study ''Chekhov's Lie'', written just three years before his 1998 death, addresses the challenges of combining medical practice with writing.
Bibliography
Selected works by Klawans include:
Nonfiction
*''Toscanini's Fumble and Other Tales of Clinical Neurology'' (1988)
*''Newton's Madness: Further Tales of Clinical Neurology'' (1990)
*''Trials of an Expert Witness: Tales of Clinical Neurology and the Law'' (1991)
*''Life, Death, and In Between : Tales of Clinical Neurology'' (1992)
*''Chekhov's Lie'' (1997)
*''Why Michael Couldn't Hit and Other Tales of the Neurology of Sports'' (1998)
*''Defending the Cavewoman and Other Tales of Evolutionary Neurology'' (2000)
Fiction
*''Sins of Commission'' (1982)
*''The Third Temple'' (1983)
*''Informed Consent'' (1986)
*''The Jerusalem Code'' (1988)
*''And Mother Makes Thirteen'' (1999)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klawans, Harold L
1937 births
1998 deaths
Writers from Chicago
University of Illinois alumni
American neurologists
20th-century American physicians
20th-century American writers
20th-century American male writers