My family and I were considering options for this year’s summer vacation. I thought of Broxton Rocks–a unique site in Georgia where we had never been before. I happened to mention all the rocky crevices at Broxton Rocks probably offered good denning habitat for copperheads and rattlesnakes, and they were likely abundant there. My wife told me we would not be going to Broxton Rocks. I informed her that snakes are our friends, and if we left them alone, they would leave us alone. I couldn’t change her mind, and I wasn’t going to make this trivial issue an argument. Anyway, Broxton Rocks is in the middle of nowhere, and there are no other attractions nearby. I did decide to take a virtual tour of Broxton Rocks, using many of the images I found on Google, especially Alan Cressler’s fine photographs. Alan Cressler has visited many natural areas in Georgia, and he posts photos of them on Flickr. He’s a much better photographer than I am.
There are 6 species of venomous snakes living at Broxton Rocks including timber rattlesnakes, diamond-backed rattlesnakes, pygmy rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins, and coral snakes. The site also hosts endangered indigo snakes, a non-venomous species, and endangered gopher tortoises.
Location of Broxton Rocks.
Broxton Rocks Preserve is about 4 miles in extent and over half of it is managed by the Nature Conservancy. It’s a particularly unique geological site. It’s part of the Altamaha Formation and is known on the surface as Altamaha grit. Most of the Altamaha Formation is deep underground and consists of sedimentary sandstone deposited when the coastal plain was below sea level. The sediment in this formation was deposited about 12 million years ago. Broxton Rocks is unusual because it is a rare area where the surface of the coastal plain has eroded to expose the Altamaha Formation. Most of the coastal plain is flat with few rocks, but Broxton Rocks has 50-foot cliffs, cliff walls, sandstone outcrops, waterfalls, and rocky pools. It is a beautiful area and was formerly known as the Picnic Rocks.
Waterfalls at Broxton Rocks.
Another waterfall and a pool.
A cliff at Broxton Rocks. Photo by Alan Cressler.
Rocky Creek and other tributaries of the Ocmulgee River have eroded the surface of the coastal plain to the Altamaha Formation which is deep underground elsewhere in the coastal plain. Photo by Alan Cressler.
A natural bridge formed by different rates of erosion. Photo by Alan Cressler.
Open pine savannah at Broxton Rocks. Photo by Alan Cressler.
Photo showing contrast between surrounding pine savannah and sandstone outcrops at Broxton rocks. Photo by Alan Cressler.
The rocky cliffs and gullies host rare plants and disjunct populations of species normally found in the southern Appalachians such as flame azalea (Rhododendron calandulaceum). Georgia plume (Elliottia racemosa) is a rare species found here. This species is restricted to 4 counties in Georgia but formerly occurred in parts of South Carolina as well. Its preferred habitat is sandstone bluffs, and it is fire adapted. It is not known to grow from seed. Instead, it grows clonally from roots. They resprout following fires. Green fly orchid (Epidendrum conopseum) is the only native species of orchid in the U.S. found outside Florida. It grows on cliff walls and trees, commonly alongside ferns. Scientists think it is pollinated by nocturnal moths, but no one has yet studied this hypothesis. Broxton Rocks is surrounded by pine savannah, but the topography and varied microenvironments break up the monotony of a typical pine flatwoods.
Flame azalea is a species found in the southern Appalachians but occurs as a disjunct population at Broxton Rocks.
Georgia plume is a rare fire-adapted species found at Broxton Rocks and just 3 other counties in Georgia.
Green fly orchid is common at Broxton Rocks. It’s the only native orchid outside of Florida found in the U.S. Unlike most species of orchid, it can survive frosts.
Remains of Asiatic black bears have been found at 5 fossil sites in Spain, showing this species formerly had a much more widespread range. Today, Asiatic black bears are restricted to mountainous regions of China, Japan, and a few other Asian countries, but during the Pleistocene they occurred across southern Siberia, the Ural Mountains, the Caucuses, and Western Europe. Recently, scientists discovered additional fossils of Asian black bears at the sites in Spain where they were previously found. It gave them an opportunity to compare these ancient specimens with other specimens.
Asiatic black bears occurred in Europe from about 620,000 years BP to about 100,000 years ago. It’s likely the onset of full glacial conditions restricted this species in Europe to a narrow refugia along the Mediterranean coast where modern humans, brown bears (U. arctos), and wild boars outcompeted them. Black bears are a forest and woodland species, habitat that mostly gave way to cold, arid grasslands during Ice Ages.
The Asiatic black bear is closely related to the American black bear (U. americanus). They probably had a common ancestor during the Miocene when temperate-subtropical woodlands existed across North America and Eurasia. A land bridge periodically connected the continents. Genetic studies are contradictory, but as a whole they estimate Asiatic black bears diverged from American black bears between 6 million years ago and 2 million years ago. Genetic studies do suggest the 2 are sister species. In turn American black bears are sister species to brown bears and polar bears (U. maritimus).
Asiatic black bear. I found this image on Wikipedia.
Present day range of the Asiatic black bear. Before the most recent Ice Age, they ranged all the way to western Europe.
Asiatic black bears have surprisingly small home ranges–some are smaller than a square mile. They gorge on forest mast and will also attack and kill large mammals more commonly than American black bears will. On occasion they will attack and kill people. They fall prey to tigers in ranges where they 2 species overlap.
Reference:
de Albvarado, de M.V,; et. al.
“Pleistocene Asian Black Bear (Ursus thibetanus, Cuvier 1823) in the Iberian Peninsula-New Evidence and a Complete Review”
Quaternary Science Review 325 Feb. 2024
Debunking the Lovelock Giants
I didn’t want to waste a whole blog article debunking this stupid click bait I came across, but I can’t let people think 9-foot-tall skeletons of Indians had ever really been found. A recent popular article written by Harriet Brewer and published by something called “Indy 300” was disseminated by Microsoft News. Brewer reported about an article published by a pseudo-archaeology magazine claiming archaeologists had discovered 9-foot-tall specimens of Indians in the Lovelock Cave in Nevada. The only human skeleton found in the cave measured about 6 feet tall. Early cave explorers mistakenly thought bones of mammoths were human bones, and their false assumption that they were bones of giant humans became tied to a local Indian legend of a giant race of cannibal humans who were forced into the cave and defeated once and for all by these local Indians. The Indian legend is likely based on the same mistaken assumption. Archaeologists have found 2000-year-old duck decoys buried in bat guano here. In any case there have been no bones of giant humans ever found anywhere. Ms. Brewer is a really shitty excuse for a journalist. Moreover, the New York Post is a really shitty excuse for a newspaper because they repeated this bogus claim in an article as well.
If someone told a scientist, a 21 foot long 500-pound animal was discovered for the first time this year, they would be in a state of disbelief. Yet, that is what happened. The reason for its recent discovery is its similarity to a known species. For over a century scientists thought the recently discovered northern anaconda (Eunectes akayima) was the same species as the southern anaconda (E. murines). However, a recent genetic study determined northern anacondas diverged from southern anacondas 10 million years ago. Despite their identical appearance, the 2 species genetic characteristics differ by 5%–more than twice as much as the genetic difference between chimpanzees and humans. Southern anacondas occur in Peru, Bolivia, French Guiana, and Brazil. Northern anacondas occur in Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.
There are 3 other species of anacondas in the Eunectes genus including the Bolivian anaconda (E. beniensa), the dark spotted anaconda (E. deschavenseei), and the yellow anaconda (E. notheus). All species of anacondas are semi-aquatic apex predators that feed upon waterfowl, deer, rodents (including large capybaras), and even caimans. They suffocate their prey by constricting their coils around their victim. There are no known cases of an anaconda feeding upon a person, but it is certainly possible. They are not the king of the jungle, however. There are no documented cases of anacondas feeding upon jaguars, though it seems possible. Jaguars can bite really hard, causing fatal wounds on anacondas. A Wikipedia entry falsely claims anacondas are known to prey upon jaguars, but the source cites an article which makes no mention of any recorded incidents of such an event occurring. Likewise, a purported youtube video of such an event looks doctored and inconclusive.
Jaguar preying on a yellow anaconda.
Reference:
Fry, B.
“How we Found the Northern Green Anaconda, a New Species of the Heaviest Snake on Earth”
I was jogging on Piney Grove Road, located in Richmond County Georgia last summer and saw a flock of crows mobbing a bald eagle and a red-tailed hawk. I sprinted inside my house, grabbed my camera, and took a decent photo of the eagle. I don’t often see eagles and was excited to document my sighting. The eagle was near the red-tailed hawk, and I was able to make a direct size comparison. I never realized how much larger eagles are compared to hawks.
Crows were mobbing this hawk and a nearby eagle.
I was excited to get this photo of the eagle. I was surprised how much bigger it was than the hawk. Nevertheless, crows were tormenting both.
This incident inspired my investigation into genetic studies of bald eagles. Bald eagles belong to the sea eagle genus (Haliaeetus) which includes 9 species with a near worldwide distribution, excepting deep ocean and polar regions. Genetic studies suggest bald eagles are more closely related to species of sea eagles found in the Northern Hemisphere. All sea eagles occupy the same ecological niche, feeding upon fish, waterfowl, carrion, and small animals.
Another genetic study determined bald eagles living in Alaska belonged to a different clade than those living in Florida. The study found significant genetic differences between boreal populations and Florida populations. Eagles found near Florida bay located in the southern part of the state are sedentary populations living in a resource rich region, but they are genetically similar to eagles found in the central and northern part of the state. The differences between boreal and Florida populations are probably due to geographical distance. Southern bald eagles may be more resistant to malaria.
Despite a sudden population decline following DDT exposure during the middle of the 20th century, scientists have not found any genetic bottlenecks in eagle populations. This is probably because it is such a widespread species.
I found an error in general information about bald eagles on google. According to more than 1 website in a basic google search, bald eagles supposedly appear suddenly in the fossil record during the late Pleistocene about 125,000 years ago. However, I looked at the University of Florida museum database and learned an eagle fossil identified as belonging to the Haliaeetus genus dating to the early Pliocene was excavated from the Chicory Mine (a phosphate mine) located in Polk County Florida. Fossils from this site date to the early Pliocene (5.3 million years ago-3.6 million years ago). It seems likely bald eagles and closely related ancestors have lived in North America for millions of years. Eagles belong to the Accipitridae Family which includes the Buteo and Accipiter hawks and the kites. The ancestors of eagles diverged from the ancestors of kites about 36 million years ago.
References:
Helnick, E.
“Genetic Differentiation Among Populations of Bald Eagles, Haliaeetus leucocephalus”
Masters Thesis for Florida Atlantic 2011
Nadeau, A.
“A Genetic Analysis of Bald Eagles in the Pacific Northwest: Retained Genetic Diversity Following a Large Scale Population Bottleneck”
Masters Thesis for Boise State August 2012
Wink, M. ; P. Heidrich, C. Fentcliff
“A mtDNA Phylogency of Sea Eagles (genus Haliaeetus) Based on Nucleotide Sequences on the Cytochorme b Gene”
I’ve been writing this blog for 14 years, and since its inception, the advances in the technology to extract information from minute paleo-ecological data have become amazing. Recently, scientists took 41 sediment cores from 5 sites at the Kap Kobenhavn Site in Greenland. This site has been a polar desert for almost 2 million years due to the aridity and frigid temperatures. Remains of the last forest that grew here can still be found, indicating climate change with the onset of Pleistocene Ice Ages was sudden. Sub-fossil tree stumps and limbs from trees including spruce, birch, poplar, and northern white cedar are exposed wherever erosion occurs, and they are millions of years old. The dry cold temperatures retard bacterial decay. Scientists were able to extract DNA from the sediment cores, and to date, this is the oldest DNA ever recovered. They were able to find DNA from many of the plants and animals that lived here almost 2 million years ago. This supplements the sub-fossil remains that have been found including bones from an extinct species of rabbit (which helped date the site), rabbit turds, and dung beetle parts. The site is thought to have been near an estuary 2 million years ago.
Photo of an ancient tree limb from the Kap Kobenhavn site. Today, it is a polar desert, but 2 million years ago it was a thriving ecosystem with a type of open spruce woodlands that no longer exists.
DNA degrades over time, and the scientists who studied the data from this site were able to reconstruct the past environment here from just fragments of DNA that they pieced together. It was like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. 2 million years ago, this location was an open boreal woodland with no modern analogue. The past plant community was dominated by spruce, poplar, birch, willow, and northern white cedar with an understory of grasses, sedges, forbs, and shrubs including blueberry (now rare in Greenland). Scientists found DNA from mastodon, caribou, hare, rodent, goose, ant, and horseshoe crab. This is the northernmost known occurrence of mastodons, though mastodon fossils have been found in Alaska and the Yukon which are about the same latitude as Greenland. Mastodons lived this far north during warmer phases of climate but became extirpated at this latitude during Ice Ages. Scientists suspect the fauna here was even more diverse than what the evidence suggests, but much of the DNA is so degraded it is unrecognizable.
Chart from the below reference showing the kinds of plants that occurred in Greenland 2 million years ago.
Chart from the below reference showing the kinds of animals that lived here 2 million years ago.
The site dates to the boundary between the Pliocene and the early Pleistocene. Scientists dated the site using a combination of paleomagnetism, biostratigraphy, allostratigraphy, and the molecular clock. Here is a brief explanation of each. Dating using paleomagnetism is based on the orientation of associated magnetic pebbles which change orientation when polarity between the south and north poles shift. These shifts occurred at known pre-historic times. Scientists can determine the relative age of the associated fossils or DNA by looking at the orientation of the associated magnetic pebbles. Biostratigraphy is the use of index fossils to date the age of other fossils. Scientists have a general idea of when certain species lived, if those fossils have been found in regions where they can be dated radiometrically. Radiometric dating is not possible in all regions because it requires the presence of volcanic rock or younger biological organisms. However, the relative age dates of fossils in areas where radiometric dating is not possible can be bracketed. Allostratigraphy is the use of geological disconformities between phases of erosion and sedimentation to date fossils. And finally, the molecular clock is the use of the known rate of mutational changes in DNA to estimate the age of fossil specimens.
Reference:
Kjaer, K.; et al
“A 2 Million Year Old Ecosystem in Greenland Uncovered by Environmental DNA”
Arthur retired in 2000 at the age of 70, and he enjoyed the first 9 years of his retirement, until chronic health problems began to diminish his quality of life. He had a healthy routine throughout most of his 70s. He would go for a 4-5 mile walk in the morning. In the afternoon he would go to the Family Y where he would exercise some more, swim, and sit in the steam bath with his buddies, most of who were also retired. They discussed politics, sports, and investing money. Arthur’s favorite teams were the Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia Bulldogs. He long ago learned to like American football better than the soccer he grew up with. But he never liked baseball. He often said, “Jews like baseball, but I don’t.” Some of the political discussions became heated and Arthur’s liberal and conservative friends were no longer on speaking terms.
When Arthur would return home he would snack on fruit and cheese. His favorite fruits were cherries and grapefruit. Cherries reminded him of when his family was hiding in a hayloft during the Holocaust, and they didn’t have much to eat, but the farmer had a cherry orchard, and they could fill up on cherries during the middle of the summer. He always wondered how long a person could live on grapefruit. Perhaps, this also harkened back to the days of near starvation. For supper his favorite foods were roast chicken and halupkes (stuffed cabbage rolls), prepared by his wife. He enjoyed his salads with cottage cheese and tomato juice poured over it all. He frequently supplemented supper with salami.
From the ages of 6 to 11, Arthur’s granddaughter, Daphne, called Arthur almost every evening on the telephone, and they had long discussions. Once a week, he and Audrey went to visit his son’s family on the other side of town, and they went on yearly vacations together, along with his daughters and their families.
Arthur Gelbart’s children and grandchildren. Top row Susan and Mark. Bottom row Elizabeth, Justin, and Daphne.
Arthur and Daphne.
Arthur and Daphne.
Arthur liked to watch television, and as his health declined, he began to spend more time watching tv. He enjoyed watching Seinfeld reruns over and over, and he loved old movies, especially war films that depicted Nazis being killed. He still held a grudge because he lost many relatives during the Holocaust. During their old age Arthur and Audrey became completely brainwashed by Fox News network. They believed the most ridiculous lies, such as Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., and Obamacare was going to eliminate their health insurance. The only time in his life Arthur ever voted was the 2008 Presidential election when he voted for John McCain over Obama. Both Audrey and Arthur were liberal in their younger years, but they believed every word they heard on Fox News. Their inability to discern truth from fact puzzled and frustrated their son.
Arthur’s chronic health problems caught up with him when he was about the age of 79. Until this age, he was usually a cheerful person, but he became depressed and acutely anxious. He suffered from occasional painful bouts of gout. The medicine used to treat it caused diarrhea. He was also diagnosed with idiopathic anemia. This caused his first spiral into depression but was alleviated with a cure similar to the treatment for leukemia after he began regular appointments with an oncologist. Cardiac arrythmia and a leaky heart valve likely caused his death. Arthur experienced an irregular heartbeat for over a decade in addition to hypertension. Sometimes his heart beat too fast (200 beats per minute), and at other times it beat too slow. Medicines could prevent his heart from beating too fast, but he needed a pacemaker inserted to keep his heart from stopping. Arthur was never the same after he had the pacemaker inserted. He could no longer take long walks in the morning because he became short of breath. He did continue walking back and forth in the living room every morning, but he didn’t dare walk in the neighborhood where he would find himself struggling to get back to the house. He was not a candidate to have his leaky heart valve repaired. He was considered too old for heart surgery.
For a while Arthur felt anxious whenever the sun set because he feared death and was afraid to go to sleep. But during the last 2 years of his life he had 2 temporary strokes and a minor stroke, and after these events he seems to have lost his fear of death. He didn’t seem to care anymore. Taking his daily regime of pills exhausted him, and he was no longer independent. He often told Audrey, “I wish I didn’t wake up this morning.” He lived to watch television, but the cable malfunctioned 1 day, and the company couldn’t come out and repair it right away. He watched 2 movies on dvd that day–Dr. Zhivago and Europa, Europa–perhaps because they reminded him of his younger life, especially the latter which is a remarkable story of survival during the Holocaust. The next morning, he woke up and asked, “who called in the middle of the night?”, referring to an early morning phone call. Later that morning, Audrey found Arthur unresponsive, and an ambulance carried him to MCG Hospital. A massive stroke put him in a coma, and he died 2 days later at about 6:00 am with his daughter, Susan, by his side.
Arthur was buried in the Jewish tradition–quickly and in a plain pine box. His family, a few of his friends and former colleagues, and his Christmas party dance partner attended his funeral on a sunny day in October of 2014.
This is Arthur Gelbart’s biography written by his son, Mark, for the record. It’s meant to be straightforward and factual with no embellishments. Some chapters of it have fewer details, especially the time period from 1945-1960. Any additional details about this time of his life would be welcomed.
Professor of Family Practice at MCG and the Medical Director of the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home
The final stage of Arthur Gelbart’s career was a prestigious position with 2 responsibilities. He was the Medical Director of the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home, also known as the Blue Goose, and he taught family practice at the Medical College of Georgia. He held this position from 1977 until his retirement in 2000–almost twice as long as he spent in private practice.
Arthur often proudly stated he awarded an A to every student he ever had, and he expressed impatience with the teachers who didn’t give his grandchildren an A. However, his pupils were medical students, and medical students usually are the kind of scholars who earned straight A’s for their entire academic careers. He couldn’t understand that maybe his grandchildren got the grades they deserved.
Arthur’s patients at the Blue Goose consisted of war veterans who were living out the last years of their lives, and younger veterans who had suffered permanent disabilities from their wounds. Arthur received many written testimonials from the relatives of his patients. They liked the way Arthur carefully and thoroughly explained the condition of their loved ones. Many people were forced to put their husband or father in the nursing home because they could no longer take care of them. End of life care can be just overwhelming. They were also mystified as to the uncharacteristic behavior they’d witnessed from their loved ones as they’d grown senile. Arthur always helped them understand the reason behind this erratic behavior.
Part of a letter written by Nadine Eslinger of Gainesville, Georgia praising Dr. Gelbart’s care of her brother at The Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home. It was published in an MCG newsletter. Audrey Gelbart kept a box full of testimonials like this.Most of them were not published publicly.
Dr. Gelbart was the medical director of this nursing home from 1977-2000. It’s nicknamed the Blue Goose.
Not every patient in the Blue Goose was on the verge of death. In 1 case Arthur had to resolve a dispute between 2 feisty old men who couldn’t get along. They were beating each other up with their walking canes.
Arthur made a major discovery soon after becoming Medical Director. Many of the patients who were thought to be suffering from irreversible dementia were not that senile. Instead, they’d been prescribed too many drugs or the wrong combination of drugs. This gave them a kind of brain fog that contributed to their confusion. When Arthur reduced the amount of prescription drugs they were given or stopped giving them the wrong combination of drugs, they usually returned to reality, and some even showed no sign of senility. Arthur published his findings in several medical journals including American Family Practice, Family Medicine, The Georgia Academy of Family Physicians, and The Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia. Most of his research was published during the 1980’s, and he became world renowned in the field of geriatrics. His research team studied how to teach geriatrics to family physicians, how much heart medication to give to people of different weights and physiological characteristics, how to treat and diagnose dementia and Parkinson’s disease, and ways to improve communications between physicians and pharmacists to reduce errors.
Dr. Gelbart and his research team. The article is from an MCG Today article written by Sally Simkins in the Summer of 1986.
Arthur had a great relationship with almost all his students and co-workers. However, he did have an issue with 1 nurse who continuously refused to follow his orders. He also didn’t like 1 colleague, Dr. Melchor. Arthur felt this doctor was stabbing him in the back because he was after his job.
Arthur Gelbart at work.
Arthur Gelbart in the prime of his life with his wife, Audrey, and his daughters, Elizabeth and Susan (from left to right).
Arthur’s father, Isadore, died in 1983. Arthur traveled to Europe to attend his father’s funeral and help take care of the financial arrangements for his brother and stepmother. His brother suffered from schizophrenia triggered by his experiences during the Holocaust. Although better decades later, Josef still needed support. This was the last time Arthur ever saw his brother, and he had not seen him in over 22 years. Arthur inherited some gold from his father, but to keep the German government from confiscating it, he smuggled it back to the U.S. He taped the gold to his body underneath his clothes. His action was reminiscent of the days when he fed his family by selling cigarettes to Russian soldiers on the black market.
Arthur met the famous soul singer, James Brown. One of Arthur’s patients at the Blue Goose, was James Brown’s father. James Brown came to visit his father, while Arthur was there. Mr. Brown offered Arthur a $100 bill as a reward for taking care of his father. Arthur explained he was on salary and couldn’t accept a cash gift, so the “hardest working man in show business” gave him an autographed calendar instead.
Arthur convinced Alan Sloan, the fiddle player for the Dixie Dregs (a popular local instrumental band), to play for Audrey and him in their living room as a Valentine’s Day gift to his wife. Mr. Sloan played an entire concert for them. Alan was a medical student at the time. It’s unclear whether Arthur paid him, or he did it for a good grade.
Arthur and Audrey attended MCG Christmas parties every year. They were an opportunity for Arthur to show off the dance moves he perfected during his years as a dance instructor in the Catskills.
Arthur showing off his dance moves at an MCG Christmas party.
During his later years working for MCG, Arthur welcomed 2 additions to the family. His first grandchild, Daphne, was born in 1995 to his eldest son, Mark, and his wife, Anita. His second grandchild, Justin, was born in 1998 to his youngest daughter, Elizabeth, and her second husband, Neeraj Uppal.
References:
Gelbart, A. personal communication
Simkins, Sally
MCG Today Summer 1986
I also found some information from 2 MCG newsletters archived online including The Beeper and The MCG News Column.
During 1975 Arthur noticed a bleeding mole on his back and worried about it because it looked like malignant melanoma–a deadly form of skin cancer. A biopsy of the mole reviewed by a skin doctor confirmed his fear. The diagnosis caused Arthur to feel panic, and he called his in-laws who were then living in Inverness, Florida for support after his Uncle Charles failed to agree to see him. They traveled to Ohio immediately–another reason he liked Audrey’s family better than his own. The treatment for melanoma in the mid 1970’s was the removal of the mole and 6 inches of flesh around it. For the rest of Arthur’s life he had a deep crater-like scar on his back, and whenever he went swimming people mistakenly believed it was a war wound. The prognoses then for melanoma was not good. Patients were given 6 months to live, and the cancer usually spread to the intestines and brain. A cancerous tumor was found in Arthur’s small intestine 4 years later. The tumor caused internal bleeding and was removed along with a section of intestine, but Arthur was never troubled by the cancer again.
Arthur Gelbart was diagnosed with skin cancer during 1975 and given 6 months to live.He survived the skin cancer, but the diagnosis caused minor and major life-changing decisions.
Arthur was a rare survivor of the Holocaust and also a rare survivor of this deadly form of skin cancer. At the time Arthur didn’t know he was going to survive the cancer, and he suffered from terrible anxiety. After work he would take valium and lay on the couch. The valium helped him with his anxiety, and he began promoting the benefits of valium to his patients. The Ohio State Medical Board got wind of this advocacy and ordered Arthur to report to Columbus for a hearing. Arthur feared they would take his medical license away, but they let him off with a warning. This may have contributed to his decision to give up his practice and leave the state of Ohio, though the cancer diagnosis was the primary impetus of this change.
Arthur began making small changes in his life after the cancer diagnosis. He formerly smoked little smelly cigars that were similar to cigarettes. The brand name was Erik. He gave up smoking. By then, it was well known that tobacco was a carcinogen, and it didn’t look good for a doctor to be a smoker anyway. He also quit the high protein Atkins Diet. For a year his supper on every weeknight was a steak, melba toast, and a pickle. Excessive exposure to sunlight likely caused the melanoma, but he didn’t know for sure and blamed the diet as a possible cause.
Arthur used to smoke these little smelly cigars. He gave it up following his diagnoses of skin cancer, though exposure to sun was likely the cause.
Arthur also decided to make a major change. He was working 60 hours a week, and he realized that if he didn’t have long to live, he should work less and enjoy life more. He sold his practice to a doctor from India, and he sold his other house in Niles as well and moved his family to Athens, Georgia where he took a 9-5 job as a staff physician for University of Georgia college students. He could spend more time playing tennis, an activity he enjoyed. He purchased a new home in the Cedar Creek subdivision and had a clay tennis court built in the backyard. The practice he built from scratch was worth a great deal of money, and he invested the proceedings from the sale of his practice, while still collecting a steady salary that paid the bills. Arthur and Audrey quickly made many new friends in Athens.
Arthur met a couple of celebrities when he worked at UGA. One day, he was walking on campus and ran into Dean Rusk, the former Secretary of State under Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Dean Rusk was a professor at UGA. Arthur liked to exercise during lunch at the school gym, but on 1 occasion a group of black teenagers wouldn’t let him play basketball with them. Ray Goff, the quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs that year, arrived. He ran the teenagers off, and just he and Arthur played basketball in the gym for the rest of his lunch hour.
Arthur got free tickets for the best seats in Sanford stadium because he was on call to help students and fans at the game. Many students got so drunk they passed out, and fat out-of-shape fans often suffered heart attacks from the excitement of the game. Arthur treated the fans and students, but he was able to watch most of the games he attended.
Arthur got tired of his job as a staff physician after 18 months. He complained because it was not challenging enough–all he ever saw was the flu and venereal diseases. Joe Tollison, a fellow physician who formerly worked with Arthur at UGA, recruited Arthur for a position in Augusta, Georgia as the Medical Director of the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home (also known as the Blue Goose because of the color of the building). As part of the job, Arthur would also teach family practice at the Medical College of Georgia. This was Arthur’s next and final career move.
After Arthur Gelbart graduated from medical school in Germany he chose to live in the United States, and he was accepted as an intern at Mt. Sinai Hospital and then into Huron Road Hospital, in Cleveland, Ohio for his first year of residency. It was a good location to begin his career because he had 2 uncles and a cousin living in Cleveland who could help support him. At that time Cleveland was still a growing vibrant city. Arthur met his future wife, Audrey Bailey, at Huron Road Hospital. She worked as a receptionist in the hospital. Their first date was a double date with friends, and they went to the movies. Audrey was on crutches after being struck by a car. She had recently suffered a broken leg and needed a pin inserted to straighten her femur. One leg was a few inches shorter than the other because of this accident.
Audrey Bailey descended from British immigrants who arrived in America during the 1700’s. Her mother was a Yankee from New York, and her father was a southerner from Georgia. Her father worked as a night foreman at a factory that made construction equipment including dozer loaders. She had an older brother and sister and a younger brother. Arthur liked Audrey’s family better than most of his own relatives because he felt they were easier to get along with, but he had trouble eating the first meal Audrey cooked for him. She made medium-rare steaks and mashed potatoes. Audrey’s brother, Dick, devoured his portion, but Arthur felt nauseated because bloody meat repelled him–most Jews were accustomed to eating meat well done in those days. Audrey later learned Arthur preferred his meat well-done. Arthur was still getting used to American style cuisine. In Europe meals included lots of bread served with a small piece of meat, but in America huge servings of meat with a small piece of bread were served, all washed down with ultra-sweet coke. His Uncle Sam also took him to chili parlors–a food his uncle, who had health problems, was not supposed to eat. Arthur couldn’t believe how salty it was.
Audrey became a quiet efficient housewife and a wonderful mother for their children. She also helped Arthur with the bookkeeping for his rapidly expanding practice. She remained a calming influence for the rest of Arthur’s life when he suffered from health issues and other angst provoking events. She was the love of his life.
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Arthur’s 2nd year of residency was at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Audrey traveled from Ohio to see him, and they married in September of 1961. They lived in an apartment in the Chinatown neighborhood. In April of 1962 their first child, Mark, was born, and shortly thereafter Regina came from New York to visit them. At first Regina intimidated Audrey, and she wasn’t happy Arthur married a “shiksa.” Audrey converted to Judaism, and over the years Regina came to think very highly of Audrey.
Arthur’s 3rd year of residency was at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Ohio where his 2nd child, Susan, was born. Arthur first learned he passed his medical board of certification and could open up his own practice when he and Audrey were visiting his in-laws, and during breakfast his mother-in-law, Ruth Bailey, read the announcement in the newspaper. After he completed his final year of residency, Arthur purchased a home on Robbin’s Avenue in Niles, Ohio and opened up a private practice. The house was built in 1909 and formerly served as a doctor’s office, so it was a good location for a new practice because many people remembered the older doctor. Niles was a small town, like Buczacz, with a population of about 20,000 people. Steel mills employed more people than any other industry and had since the town was founded when it was known as Heaton’s Furnace. The town was originally founded by Anglo-Saxon Protestants, but by the 1960’s Italian and Irish Catholics predominated. It was known as a little Italy because of how many Italian immigrants resided in the town, and many of the townspeople mistakenly thought Arthur had married a local Italian woman when they saw Audrey planting flowers and tomatoes next to the office. Arthur’s office was on the 1st floor, and his family lived on the 2nd floor.
Newspaper article from the Niles Daily Times announcing the opening of his practice in Niles, Ohio during 1963.
Photo of Arthur Gelbart’s doctor’s office on 940 Robbins Avenue in Niles, Ohio. He owned a private practice here from 1963-1976. The house was built in 1909 and was formerly owned by another doctor.
Arthur Gelbart as a young doctor in his office.
Arthur and Audrey Gelbart with Mark and Susan.
The Gelbart family was completed with the addition of Elizabeth.
Arthur realized he was getting fat, so he took up the sport of tennis. Here he is with his son.
Arthur went on house calls for $5 and accepted all kinds of payment including bags of produce and once a hunter’s ring-necked pheasant. He took patients who had no insurance because he knew they might have insured relatives that would be turned off by a doctor who refused to help sick people.
Early during his career, Arthur saved a dying boy in a case that baffled all the other doctors at Trumbull Memorial. The boy was the son of a well-known gangster. Arthur diagnosed him with trichinosis contracted from nibbling on uncooked sausage. Arthur liked to brag that he could get anything he wanted after that successful diagnosis. The boy didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps and became a dentist. Arthur liked to think his experience of being helped by the medical profession led him to a more righteous career.
Arthur’s practice grew rapidly because there were only 1 or 2 other general practitioners in town. Soon, he hired 2 secretaries and a part-time maid. His secretaries frustrated him because they would overbook. His patients would have to wait a long time, and he wouldn’t be finished working until 9:00 pm or later. Eventually, he fired 1 secretary and replaced her with younger more efficient secretaries.
A 3rd child, Elizabeth, was born in 1965, but Arthur was easily able to support his growing family. The practice became so lucrative, Arthur was able to purchase a modern home on Hogarth Avenue in 1970, and he moved his family to this house but kept the older home for his practice. He rented out the upstairs room to bachelors. On 1 occasion the renter reported a break-in to the police, and Arthur had to go to his office in the middle of the night. A junkie was looking for drugs. Another time, Arthur got a call from a gangster who was busted at the Mexican border with boxes of pills. The gangster wanted Arthur to tell them he ordered the pills. Arthur refused, and he told the crook the agents would never believe the story anyway.
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High School football was important in Niles, Ohio and the Niles Red Dragons were a state power during the 1960’s. A few times every season, Arthur would be the doctor on call for the games. Once, he attended the game after playing tennis, and the weather had taken a rainy turn, so he had a raincoat over his shorts. A player was injured, and Arthur ran on the field. Most of the football fans laughed because he looked like a flasher. At another game when Niles was playing Cleveland East, the opposing team’s coaches asked him to come to their locker room at halftime to treat their injured player. The player took a swing at Arthur, and the coaches had to restrain him. He was confused from a concussion.
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Arthur often stated the first time he noticed he was fat was after he went to a wedding reception where he ate a whole duck. During his residencies and when he was busy establishing his practice, he didn’t have much time for exercise, but he decided to make time after a neighbor, Lou Moeller, suffered a heart attack at a young age. They both chose to begin playing tennis with each other for exercise at Steven’s Creek Park. Arthur quickly became a tennis enthusiast and was quite good because the game was similar to handball, another sport he excelled at in college. Soon, he had his entire family playing tennis, and he became a member of the Avalon Inn Tennis and Golf Club in nearby Howland where he could play tennis indoors during the winter. He never lost his pot belly, but this made him a deceiving opponent because he could move around well for a man with a fat stomach. He defeated many taller and more athletic men. HIs biggest rival became his son, and by the time Mark was a teenager they competed in fierce battles under the hot summer sun. Arthur often cheated, but what aggravated his son the most was when Mark would hit a fantastic shot, and Arthur would ask “was that in” instead of saying “nice shot.” Their rivalry continued until Arthur began suffering from arthritis in his hands in his early 60’s and could no longer hold a racquet without feeling pain.
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Arthur had some peculiar habits. When he was at home, he walked around in his underwear. He said he liked to be comfortable at home. Guests would come visit, and he would still walk around in his underwear. He didn’t seem to care or even consider throwing on some clothes. Audrey excused his behavior by saying Arthur missed a developing period in his life because of his experience during the Holocaust. Eventually, the family convinced him to at least put a robe on when they had guests, but this change didn’t occur until Arthur was in his 70’s and had grandchildren. Arthur also had no shame about farting in front of strangers. He’d be in the middle of a conversation and fart and just keep talking as if nothing happened. In exasperation Audrey insisted he leave the dinner table if he had to fart. He caved into this request, but on 1 occasion leaving the room became a wasted effort. He left the dining room, walked through the kitchen, down the hallway, and into the living room adjacent to the dining room where he let loose, and everybody could hear the fart anyway.
Arthur Gelbart played handball every weekend when he attended NYU, and he was a good player because he was ambidextrous. He was playing handball with his buddies 1 weekend and heard them talking about a test for a Fulbright scholarship. A high score could qualify a successful test-taker for this prestigious honor. Most of Arthur’s handball partners had better grades than he did, and they excelled in college mathematics courses. Arthur struggled with math. Arthur didn’t think he would do well on the test, especially if competing against students who normally performed better in school. Nevertheless, on a whim he took the test and did well enough to earn the scholarship, perhaps because he knew several languages, including Polish, German, Russian, and Yiddish.
The Fulbright scholarship has an interesting origin. Senator James W. Fulbright founded the scholarship in 1946, and it was originally funded with U.S. Army surplus from World War II sold overseas. The funds were in foreign currencies, and the purpose of the scholarship was to promote cultural exchange students between the U.S. and foreign countries.
Arthur Gelbart chose to attend Ludwig-Maximillians Universitat medical school in Munich, Germany from 1954-1959 where he could live with his father and brother and save money on housing. At this time his brother was in and out of mental institutions, and his father was enjoying the bachelor lifestyle before he met his 2nd wife, Elsa. When Arthur arrived, Isador was living with a loose woman, but she wanted to sleep with Arthur too, so Isador kicked her out of his apartment. Isador worked but was also a law student. The German government paid reparations to holocaust victims, and he used this to pay for law school, so father and son were students at the same time. Isador met Elsa during the mid 1950s. She was a German Jew who escaped from the Holocaust when her family moved to Bolivia. She knew 8 languages. When Isador asked her to marry him, she refused at first, saying, “it doesn’t stand up.” Isador was confused because he thought she was referring to his erection. She meant the reason he wanted to marry him didn’t stand up. Eventually, she accepted his proposal.
Arthur experienced his 1st real love affair while attending medical school, but his motives were misguided. It was a casual relationship. On a weekly basis he met a German woman for dancing at a club, and later they would sleep together. Arthur had no intention of marrying her. Instead, he wanted to use a German woman to get revenge on all of Germany for the Holocaust–a ridiculous notion. No individual can be blamed for the ills of an entire civilization. Arthur was still young in his mid-twenties and didn’t have a mature attitude about love, but that is a poor excuse for his dishonest intentions. One weekend, they had an argument, and the following weekend when Arthur went to meet her at the club, she was not there. The love affair ended.
Arthur’s diploma from Ludwig-Maximillians Universitat medical school.
Arthur graduated from Ludwig-Maximillians Universitat in 1959 and moved to Cleveland, Ohio where 2 of his uncles lived. He had an internship at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland before his first 2 years of residencies at 2 different hospitals. He met his future wife, Audrey Bailey, in Cleveland. His early career and family are the subjects of the next chapter.
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