Susan E.B. Schwartz - JFKs Secret Doctor: The Remarkable Life of Medical Pioneer and Legendary Rock Climber Hans Kraus

Additional praise for
JFKs Secret Doctor

Bravo! Schwartz does an excellent job of portraying a life that could have been scripted by Hollywood. A great account of a great old school adventurer, who led his life with passion, wit, and unswerving determination. We need more books like this.

James M. Clash,
Forbes magazine Adventurer columnist and author of To the Limits

Hans is a legendary figure in rock climbing, but until I read Schwartzs book, I didnt realize the passion and grandeur of his exploits both in and out of the mountains. From life as a pioneering rock climber, to the struggles of a medical pioneer ahead of his time, as well as the previously unrevealed details about life in the inner circle of Kennedys Camelot, Schwartz has taken a climbing story and elevated it to a higher plane. I started reading it from a climbers perspective and finished with a vision of a man with a most extraordinary life, told through this book in the most compelling way.

Robert Mads Anderson,
Everest guide and author of Seven Summits Solo and To Everest via Antarctica

Acclaim for the Man

A real friend.

Katharine Hepburn, in a 1996 note to the author

I wish I could have known you years ago.

John F. Kennedy to Hans Kraus in 1962, overheard and reported by his personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln

Even though I have never met Hans Kraus, I feel as though I know him. Every climber at the Gunks knows Hans.

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr ., Shawangunks rock climber

Hans has always been a hero of mine.

Yvon Chouinard, Founder and President of Patagonia, Inc, legendary rock climber

You will always remain on the top of the list by those who dearly loved and worked with the President.

John F. Kennedys Chief White House doctor, George Burkley, in a note to Hans Kraus, dated 11/30/63

An aura of energy about the man.... Sizzle and spunk, exuberance, confidence, great physical strength, high-voltage enthusiasm, bursting vitality.

Sports Illustrated feature article, 6/15/81

Cojones so big, he needed a bag to carry them around.

James P. McCarthy, past American Alpine Club president

[Krauss routes] represent great moments in American climbing. They are proud, committing and were, for their respective periods, groundbreaking.

Rock and Ice magazine (December 2004)

Copyright 2012 by Susan E. B. Schwartz

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schwartz, Susan E. B.

JFKs secret doctor : the remarkable life of medical pioneer and legendary rock climber Hans Kraus / Susan E. Schwartz.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63450-481-2

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-61608-547-6

EBook ISBN: 978-1-63450-951-0

1. Kraus, Hans, 1905-1996. 2. PhysiciansUnited StatesBiography. 3. Physical therapistsUnited StatesBiography. 4. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963Health. 5. BackDiseasesTreatment. 6. Sports medicineUnited StatesBiography. 7. MountaineersBiography. 8. Austrian AmericansBiography. 9. AustriaBiography. I. Title.

CT275.K863S39 2013

973.922092dc23

[B]

2012006752

Cover design by Jane Sheppard

Printed in the United States of America

To my remarkable children, Grace and Matt

Into the unknown

With a few small soft-iron pitons and a hemp rope, boldness, and big cojones.

Climbing author Dick Williams, describing Hans Kraus in the mountains

So far ahead of his time;

it will take fifty years for others to catch up.

Kennedy White House doctor Dr. Gene Cohen, describing Hans Kraus in medicine

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

History shows that Fritz Wiessner was the first climber to discover the Shwangunks in New York State. But after the first weekend at Millbrook, Fritz contacted his fellow expat Hans Kraus. Hans joined Fritz the next weekend and thus began the first Golden Age of development in the Gunks. Fritz soon moved to Vermont, and Hans became the prime mover in the development of one of the premiere climbing areas in the United States.

When I first met Hans he had already established some of the great classic climbs of the area, including High Exposure and Madame Grunebaums Wulst. He was clearly the leader of the coterie of the leading climbers of the era. And his climbing accomplishments were not limited to the Gunks. He did many first ascents in the Tetons, the Wind Rivers of Wyoming, and the Bugaboos of British Columbia.

But I became aware that he had another life. He had already helped establish the medical specialty of physiatryphysical medicine and rehabilitationand had been treating the elite skiers of that era. What most people do not know is that he was incredible generous in treating his fellow climbers who were injured, including me. Later he successfully treated our president, John F. Kennedy, after many otter medical specialists had failed.

He was a man for all seasons and has always been a hero of mine.

Yvon Chouinard,

Founder and owner of Patagonia, Inc.

PREFACE

The Side of a Cliff, Two Hundred Feet above the Ground

1965, Shawangunk Mountains, New York State

He was hanging there, in the air.

Air was everywhere. Above, below, ahead. To the left and to the right. Seemingly against logic, wherever he looked, there were hundreds of feet of sheer, open air.

At sixty, he was very much in his prime. After all, how many menof any agecould crank a one-arm pull-up or full split like he still could? Or climb a fearsome, overhanging, exposed rock wall, such as the one from which he now dangled? The wind whipped at his face, hawks swooped below his feet, and he felt serene and at peace.

Steep and jutting sharply from the cliff, the rock buttress looked unclimbable and impossible or, as the Shawangunks climbing guidebook put it, like a journey into the unknown. Perched on a hillside, it seemed much higher than its literal measurement of two hundred feet, and colder, windier, and wilder than anywhere else on the cliffs. And seemingly against logic, it offered complete exposureair on four sides.

Even today, experts warn about the physical demands of climbing the buttress (forearm-pumping, one kindly put it) combined with the mental demands of being in such an exposed position. So what was a sixty-year-old man doing hanging off its side?

He had been the first, nearly a quarter of century before, to scale the rock buttresswearing sneakers he bought at a five-and-dime store and tied into a dubious hemp rope knotted casually around his waist. Years passed before anyone else dared a second ascent. Even after several decades, when climbers sported specialized and far safer gear, the route remained a test piece entitling a climber to bragging rights.

One climbing expert shook his head and marveled about the man, His cojones are so big, he needs a bag to carry them in. The mans reputation continued to grow with the years. When climbers spotted him on the hiking trail below the cliffs, they murmured, elbowed each other, and pointed in excitement.