Autobiography Series: A Hitchhiker's Road to Neuropathology

Abstract

The following reminiscence by Cedric Raine is the 10th autobiography in a series published in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology. These have been solicited from senior members of the neuropathology community who have been noted leaders and contributors to neuroscience and to the American Association of Neuropathologists (AANP) and have a historical perspective of the importance of neuropathology in diagnosis, education, and research. His is the first autobiography by a distinguished PhD member (as well as former president) of the AANP, highlighting the contributions and integral roles of basic neuroscientists in our Association. It is hoped that this series will entertain, enlighten, and present members of the AANP with a better sense of the legacy that we have inherited, as well as reintroduce our respected members as humans having interesting lives filled with adventures, joys, and sorrows, and allow them to present their lives in their own words. MNH, RAS “A man is the product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.” Mahatma Gandhi Lacking a more original arresting opening, let me begin by saying that to be invited to join the list of esteemed neuropathologists featured in the Journal's Autobiography Series, following icons like Asao Hirano, Robert Terry, and Nicholas Gonatas, is both a privilege and a challenge. Never known for being conventional and sporting a background completely at odds with the standard training of most members of the American Association of Neuropathologists (AANP), I would like to take off on a different foot by thanking my colleagues in the Association for welcoming and accepting me, among the first PhDs, into the fold as an Active Member. When Mike Hart rang me a few months ago asking me to prepare a piece for the Series, my knee-jerk reaction was to decline on the grounds of juvenility and inappropriateness. Recognizing that autobiographies usually represent one's own self-chosen, self- redacted reminiscences, I was in no hurry to wax solipsistic to the readership and my colleagues. As we spoke, however, I rationalized the issue by recalling how many years had flown by since I became involved with the AANP (actually, 44) and how my own development as an investigator had paralleled and benefited from my affiliation with the Association and its mouthpiece, the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology (JNEN). Setting feelings of uncertainty aside and with Mike still on the line, I thought, “this is the academic body that gave me the legs to stand on in neuropathology; of course, I'm qualified; I'll do it.” So, for an autobiography garnished more with anecdotes than achievements, read on. I was born in May 1940 in Eastbourne, England, to a single mother; the vivid description of WWII events from her provided me with images difficult to distinguish from actual memories. She used to talk about the Dunkirk evacuation and the dogfights overhead between Spitfires, Hurricanes, and ME 109s, with their contrails slicing the summer sky, all occurring while I was in my push-chair. Moreover, this coastline was also the planned landing site for the German invasion barges waiting to depart Belgium, but thanks to the Royal Air Force and the Valiant Few, it never came to pass. Not surprisingly, Eastbourne residents were advised to evacuate to safer havens, particularly as German bombers driven from the London Blitz fled our airspace and jettisoned unspent bombs along the coast. My mother decided to return to her parents' home in Carlisle, Cumberland, 400 miles north, 8 miles south of the Scottish border. We arrived in Carlisle in 1942, unannounced and definitely not welcome. Apparently, she had left Carlisle about 10 years earlier under a cloud and had not been heard of since. However, her odyssey had ended; her funds had run dry and she had come home. Aunt Maureen, who is 7 years older than me, answered the doorbell and found her sister who she had never seen, standing on the doorstep with “a beautiful little boy in a green woolen suit with small pink flowers across the front.” We were admitted into the house by my grandmother; my grandfather was summoned from his victory garden and there followed an unpleasant confrontation ending with my grandmother (my life's best friend and savior), taking me by the hand out of the fray saying “T am going to put this young man through university, “ and she did. Shortly thereafter, real memories began to form. There were 4 sisters in the house; 3 of them rather like the ugly sisters of Cinderella constantly battled with my mother and abused me at their convenience. I was terrified; I used to hide a lot and developed a bad stutter, which stayed with me until I came to the States in the late 1960s. My mother kept my hair long and in a pageboy style (remember Cedric of “Little Lord Fauntleroy?) and had me attend dancing classes at the age of 3 (Fig. 1). About 12 months later, the hair came off, my mother took a war-related job, and I was released to the Carlisle streets to become a grubby member of the populace. The dance class of Florence Wilkinson (rear center), Carlisle, 1943. That's me, fifth from left, front row, hands on knees. Note pageboy hairstyle. My aunt Maureen (extreme right, in front of man) delivered me to the class. It was wartime and, like many cities in the United Kingdom, Carlisle was in the thick of it. The United States had by now entered the war (thank heavens!), and being a center for about 6 railroad companies and situated on the only road south from Glasgow (the main port for traffic from North America), everything had to come through Carlisle, much to the delight of the local kids. The roadside and railway embankments became our playgrounds as convoys and trains of US and Canadian troops, lines of gray-painted trucks with long trailers carrying airplanes with folded wings, and tanks (oh, the tanks!) trundled through the cobbled streets of Carlisle. Near our street was a long lay-by where tanks would stop as crews took a break. I can still smell the hot oily fumes. We would race like mad to them and climb aboard shouting, “Any gum, chum?” Our reward was usually sticks of Wrigley's gum and/or a Hershey bar—what a delight to kids from families on severe rationing! On 1 occasion, an American soldier, noticing my dirty face, gave me a bar of perfumed soap with which I ran home to give my mother who had not seen its like for some years. The war had a toughening effect on kids: fathers were not around, we lived in a matriarchal society, and we grew up fast. My grandmother, anxious to get me out of the house, walked me down to Brook Street School just after I turned 4 and enrolled me as a 5-year-old in the infants' class. That worked fine until I was to take the 11-plus examination, a to the at the age of and the to a education, at which were My age was and I was to to take the the following I the 11-plus some and a and a on the I and began by saying that I had to the to a a I thought, but was by a about in I still from I of from Brook Street the to 8 but years at Carlisle an in the It was of a at the were and (Fig. the age of well on the of and to to become an My mother no worked and I was by my age from the My grandmother put her foot down and to her she going to I to the following to join the to be for the which I me a to I was by a in by local who I had while (as I summer from the age of to a while to a few taking off for the of the I that I had been by of to become the of What a I thought, as I my for the long home. The following I at to for a my Carlisle School was I mad for about years (Fig. but to down in my to on the which I with a my at I had a with a Maureen (my who I had in in the of where I many at the home of an aunt and with Maureen was after she left and I entered the but after I entered my her and, a gave her my much of my at I had my Maureen to me on the as I and she through to become a at in in were and with a in and a to the and in the United Kingdom, I entered the I the and of on my to be for as a out to with no but 3 I gave up and took a as a in the a house in a of Carlisle. well for me until the I and the local a man who had the many of he would be the to get as and I was with I was in the of a of with a by a he at me the I released the it and the under the On on the he and to climb His hands and he more his on the more he it but I to the is I the Carlisle arrived and took his a had been for earlier the he had the down the road from the many thereafter, would come into the asking to who up and I would them the that it. was to months in and I gave up my as a About a after I left I a who me of a for an at the in The was to and its was I had read of American that featured and on by and in the of and I was with through an who was a of the I to and an was I arrived at the and was up to the of a house, through which where I was to my (Fig. The was to with me about my and my where I had about and I with I the and was a As I left his me to my of some with at a in long after I left the I turned a into a My and training me in I was to the and of the from in and in and became in and The was for basic and was by which many members to and were his His was on and on were and members were to like in their and would stop at to his on my a to the of a of from the community to a by that a he had had for The in the of a for a while he up a series of a of of and from and was to be by my and the left for the to return the following to the the entered my the some of the and the to The the were the was and thereafter, being with the left the by to the were and the became members became of had not of a who would have the was home to a of and among was and only the for to were the I 6 years in the I grew to my on and, I a PhD to he me the to a not to a of to a of and with many my own was not and many young as a of and bad like and we the to the to be the on. it would be to most of the was a and that his was the in the the however, he a he would a for my and me the me to the and and prepare the for When began to and was I was from he be However, as I became more in and and more his me as his unpleasant its ugly he who I to and with me that I would this for my it I never his to get me but it put a on many a after 4 years of Maureen 1 that she had a as a for me to get down to my PhD It worked and I the in 3 but its was a that it be of and that I was not to from the As would have decided to take a to from in and I took the as the to the for my with my own after he I the product to the and for to a as my that I had my and the as a When entered the I to the for me to the to the for at the to and walked became a an with out the I would home and Maureen, no On the 10th I and I of his His he his and later, the was with the the that the for PhD in the United a that the me, and an my to 3 the decided for no to from my much and around, I to the of to into the more but it The the as I was the came in and me with a that I was as of that I my was a and home. Not I came in and was about to attend the a in with its and The and I was a PhD in there was more to had me on a my would to about a in On of the the after my he out different from were and at the of a I to the and was a of was on the that 1 would the of the following The effect was that my PhD me to and a few later, he my a friend with a PhD in at a of and I was to in I decided to there was a of for in the United Kingdom, which was in the of a to the and the United I at 1 to on of the of my but the academic in the and were Maureen and I decided to the United and, I an of a with Robert Terry, an known at the of in the I it. had also heard about me from my friend a who had left for 1 in my as a in the had become a of and had about the to his he was advised to Maureen and I to come to the United I for the of with for the and took them to for in the with a my with and to the for and to to We had no but to put our house on the of it for the small from the going and funds in and for our in England, we in with miles later, in after I the for at the AANP in the to It was a from who had been about to to take up a in became of Neurology at the of me, the in the and me he would take in the of the to he the following to the United Our in were particularly I was from training my and the me advised me not to up and to that was to while on the with the down to and the as I the he entered the I was and that I stop and the to I to until I was began to I to and to with and I and, from that was an of and that a of it was on the I into had the with his the of the and I have vivid memories of I took the and some of the at his much and into the and more was and began for I kept and and he kept and I and to me to I was me and out as he the get for I heard more about this but he never me years later, I this to an of young as of a talk a were I a better than for the On my in the I delivered the to for and would the at the up and into to for our to the to the and to As I left the with my I to he to the of the which he me my training in in the United was of his as of the by an on from and with members and never a in On a arrived at with a Maureen and a to in research. My in was I only We were by who delivered to his in where we his and their 3 and where we stayed for while I in at and Maureen the to an The me into to who was in to took me to the of the I have little more than with into small at I still it how much neuropathology had from that small (the foot in product have been waiting for me, was the (Fig. with in at an in Our was no more than off to attend to while his for I would run the until a the was in I would to a I would my on and would a between the and that of a on of a on which I had also worked and published in been my he left, gave me a of where I the and friend and and a who would become my for in the My first was an to out for there was an of in and out of that small Mike and of them were about to and were to their on These were for the most in the with a of to and were well and with the best the was this from Carlisle in a still the with a an and little from to get a foot on the and not to I the found an a some on and after a little more than 1 at and much the left had a for and, my first I with and of of which would The with and, my I would the just to read and more and more and many for What a from and the into my just as and I (Fig. were a series of on and the AANP in walked into the and me an for an from the of me to prepare the and Experimental and he would the a and the to that The was and 3 (my own an and to the in our the was and and, the to me to at the me up to with a in of a senior to an to a young was my as an investigator at The in thanks to and my colleagues at my was and after into the I was to and an training for and funds for 3 a and and a My was to a home with and that would be to and who would be to on their rather than and of more than years in my was that my from and I was at the on the (Fig. and background with my of with I an for a training and a to which my of will the with and of my in the Raine Note the I was most to a with and that in on and left the 3 of much to our own his of he was there was and we never I also an with and our many contributions to the of the of on as became more this would into the of the and the of in a PhD was for into my at a as were in My into was more by my up with and our on in the much a and of the and most I have known in (Fig. late the the of also in my of which was with of my of the at from its in until his in (Fig. was a and and an the of and our we a of for the first of in the and the of from Moreover, we worked and many of in the and as began to take center I up with and members of his at my own and to and into and our into the of with and was with and which in the first of to in in and the of a of to to and in As we entered the the began to for neuropathology in as of the and as and as began to and as became and more as for our and the at AANP Neuropathology at was also about to a with to in a by the of the decided to but only would with both left, a was was no our was and members became and began to to our Neuropathology became a of a the for a while but and to join the in left for and the was to who the for a few but of the and the he to in the and to run a a of its former (Fig. my own on had been to the it me to my colleagues on. I to (Fig. I a with the of and had the of a who me my from the of the to in in I was to the of with a of from for and and a of by the of we entered the with a of which to Neuropathology and and The were also in my and were in and at of the best I with in the my and with and the of to a of and the most of my years at came through my to and an of and into the of by a and with and were to between to of became a of my the the of an of through my 1 present them in list will me for the German (the 4 with (the 4 with and in a with the following also training with Mike and all the I my thanks for the and into my I their was and I from them at As for some of my I he with from his to his and in (Fig. As for Terry, in 3 of and to to up with a with some by (Fig. was in fine and I was to his the many the at were as as in on a from The of Terry, and we have my and I am left with my to my who my my and my and for years. was my first and as I a for from through the a was with me from the late until ran the of the Journal of which I in from to and it and my (Fig. to I be my and in from to the present My would I be my training a of and the standard for me were to have in About 12 months into my at and I our first on the of in to and I was it was On the I the of was a for a to which I was I and with and I at the I my to the up front and my me into an a in a I with the much to their was I with and my first in The AANP been the for my academic and (Fig. and its was usually the of my of the at I was into from the at a were for Active The was into the most being the the Association to and by I was to the for the and after about 3 years of and we in the AANP that be admitted as Active many years thereafter, was and the basic by who would have on the of I a AANP and on and/or delivered and for 1 was to be being the of and the and the for to Neuropathology I on the of from to academic I have I more to the AANP than to the of a few lines on Maureen and I were never with of our but in while as a in a for Maureen was to a young boy with who had been abused and by his She became of and, he was for she decided we a home. So, in at the age of he entered our lives our and, a of we entered to read and had and a a home and developed a beautiful he worked as an in a a at which he that for began he Maureen, and he never let his get in the of his was with for 12 years and became a and member of our however, the on in his years and his many years on up with and he in thereafter, in Maureen was as having and, as a my at became I began to my to and in until Maureen her like a but after a she in 7 months we had from to Maureen to as a grandmother in the young of and having to in a and her an Maureen lived long to but was never well to from the would have I Maureen much in to the years we were it was of her that I was to it along the road to Neuropathology (Fig. I have just the first is in the center with Mike Hart Maureen, my and Maureen in as a me to my which I and a with I am in There on my for colleagues me and images for of still and I am more to attend So, me on the do and