Editorial Comment

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Into that heaven of freedom, let me awake. —Tagore George Dean MacEwen was born in Metcalfe, Ontario, Canada on November 10, 1927. He always prided himself as a farm boy and had all the good qualities of a farmer. He graduated from Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada and was awarded the MD CM Degree. After graduating, he moved south of the border and completed an internship at the DC General Hospital in Washington, DC. This is where he met his wife Lynn. Dr. MacEwen completed his orthopaedic residency at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tennessee between 1955 and 1958 where Dr. Harold Boyd became his mentor. At about this time, Dr. Alfred Shands, the first Medical Director of Delaware’s Alfred I. duPont Institute, was looking for a successor. Noting that Dr. MacEwen had the highest score on the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons examination, he met with Dr. Boyd who recommended Dr. MacEwen highly and described him as a quiet but hardworking and smart man. Dr. MacEwen joined the Alfred I. duPont Institute as the second Medical Director and Surgeon-in-Chief. He had an eye for recognizing talent and recruited a number of gifted people to come on staff with him at the Institute. All of these people have gone on to do bigger and better things: Dr. Henry Cowell became the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, president of the Eastern Orthopaedic Association (EOA), and president of the Foot and Ankle Society; Dr. Robert Hensinger became chairman at the University of Michigan, president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), president of the Scoliosis Research Society, and president of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America; Dr. William Bunnell became the chairman at Loma Linda University; Dr. Robert Eilert is chairman at Denver Children’s Hospital and was secretary of the AAOS; and Dr. J. Richard Bowen succeeded Dr. MacEwen as chairman and surgeon-in-chief at the duPont Institute and is president of the EOA. In addition, more than half of his fellows have become chairman of pediatric orthopaedic surgery at their respective hospitals around the world. The contributors for this special issue reflect the work done by some of these people. Early in his career, Dr. MacEwen recognized the importance of international education. It was his belief that if American science was to grow, its message had to be spread far and wide. The first Argentines and Brazilians came here in the 1960s. These early fellows not only promoted pediatric orthopaedics in their countries, but became presidents of their respective pediatric orthopaedic societies. He was also instrumental in starting the German Traveling Fellowship and an exchange fellowship with France, Korea, Japan, and many other countries. Dr. MacEwen was instrumental in modifying the Pavlik harness for ease of application thus revolutionizing the treatment of congenital dislocation of the hip in infants in this nation. He developed the Wilmington jacket, a low-profile, custom-molded scoliosis brace that eased the pain of wearing the Milwaukee brace. He published original research on almost every topic in children’s orthopaedics. It is not our purpose to reflect in these pages the accolades he has received. He was the President of many prestigious societies and honorary member and consultant to numerous organizations. He was a founding member and later President of the Scoliosis Research Society as well as the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society. His curriculum vitae is more than 100 pages long. One of the greatest assets of Dean MacEwen was the way he motivated other people. To quote an eminent investigator, “It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not proficiently but the act of getting there that grants the greatest enjoyment. The never-satisfied man is so strange—if he has completed a structure, then it is not in order to dwell in it peacefully but in order to begin something anew.” Dean MacEwen had a similar style of work. Each time you had a chance to talk to him, he had a new idea, he opened a new door and if you cared to look, there was this gorgeous vista for your taking. One of us (SJK) came under Dr. MacEwen’s spell in 1974 almost by accident when joining the staff of the duPont Institute as an unpaid fellow for 3 months, which turned into an association with the institution for almost 30 years. Later, Dr. MacEwen encouraged one of us (JTG) to break free of a “comfort zone” and pursue a career in medicine and ultimately pediatric orthopaedics. Dr. MacEwen has continued to be a friend and mentor to both of us. “Posterity and time will give us all our true measure and assign to each of us our due and humble place; and in the end, it is the judgment of posterity that really matters.” The great work that is being done by his numerous fellows all over the globe is a true measure of his contribution to the spread of pediatric orthopaedics. G. Dean MacEwen “was not of an age but for all time.” Lastly, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of the authors who contributed to this text, and to Henry R. Cowell, MD, PhD, for his excellent review of the manuscripts in this issue.

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