Craig Alan Miller - A Time for All Things: The Life of Michael E. DeBakey

Amazingly detailed and powerful, A Time for All Things is a very important medical, historical, and ethical document from which there are enduring, important lessons to be learned.

Renee C. Fox, PhD, Professor Emerita, Sociology,
Annenberg Professor Emerita of the Social Sciences,
University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA

An icon in American medicine, Michael E. DeBakey was a towering figure in surgery and in health policy. This extensively researched book provides insights into the powerful role that DeBakey played in shaping the field of vascular surgery, as well as the forces that in turn shaped himfrom family, to war, to politics, to professional rivalries. Spanning decades of an amazing life, the stories of DeBakeys dedication to altruistic patient care, academic excellence, and dedicated service to both the profession and our nation will inspire physicians, policymakers, and patients alike.

Claire Pomeroy, MD, MBA
President, Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, New York, NY

A Time for All Things gives a thorough insight into the academic career of one of the most influential professors in American medicine and politics. Michael E DeBakey made seminal contributions as surgeon, inventor, teacher, and political influencer during his whole life. It was a privilege for me to have met with Michel E DeBakey, a true Medical Statesman, and I can strongly recommend this amazing book.

Bertil Hamberger, Professor Emeritus, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Michael E. DeBakey was a surgeon, educator, and medical statesman. Craig Miller has superbly chronicled a life of accomplishments, honors, and surgical achievements. Millers efforts in archiving the facts of DeBakeys storied career will be a treasure for both the surgeon and the lay reader.

Charles H. McCollum, MD
Professor of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Dr. Miller captures the amazing story of Michael E. DeBakey, from his learning to sew with his mother, foreshadowing his becoming the one of the most technically proficient surgeons in the past 100 years. It is well written and referenced, with an amazing collection of photos of DeBakey, his family, friends, colleagues and contributions. DeBakeys story is that of the epic evolution of vascular surgery, aortic surgery, and open-heart surgery, as well as the history of surgery in Houston. This inspirational biography reads like a historical medical novel, and is essential for surgeons, aspiring surgeons, and innovators from all walks of life.

E. Christopher Ellison, MD, FACS
Academy Professor, Robert M. Zollinger Professor Emeritus,
Department of Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

A Time for All Things is a superb telling of Michael E DeBakeys amazingly long, dashing careerin surgery, in education, and deeply in national public policy. None of these aspects is slighted by Millers telling, but the Washington insider aspects may be most surprising.

Donald Lindberg, MD, Director Emeritus,
National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD

Dr. Craig Millers masterful biography of Michael E. DeBakey describes a figure who is truly larger-than-life and whom many, including myself, consider the greatest surgeon of the 20th century. Dr. DeBakey was also a great scholar, innovator, and inventor, and had not only tremendous surgical skills, but also empathy for his patients. His remarkable career spanned nearly all of the 20th century and then to the 21st. This biography is a fine contribution to one of the most noteworthy individuals of the last 100 years.

Antonio M. Gotto, MD, DPhil
Dean Emeritus, Weill Cornell Medicine
Provost for Medical Affairs Emeritus, Cornell University
New York, NY

A superb rendition of the ubiquitous professional and personal life of a most remarkable man. This book is a very readable account of DeBakeys influence and participation in the evolving science of cardiovascular surgery over seven decades, as well as his influence on the societal and political milieu of the timeenhanced by facts and events little known to even his closest colleagues.

William L. Winters, Jr., MD, MACC, MACP
Emeritus Professor of Cardiology, Institute for Academic Medicine,
Full Emeritus Member, Department of Cardiology,
Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston,TX

Michael E. DeBakey was so much more than just the greatest surgeon of the 20th century. His profound impact on social politics, disease prevention, education, research funding, health care access, and information technology changed the way modern medicine works forever. Craig Miller brings to life this brilliant personality in his beautifully written biography.

Matthias Loebe, MD, PhD, Director of Thoracic Transplantation,
University of Miami, Miami, FL

In this very readable biography, Miller has brought to a wider audience the remarkable life of the legendary man I knew and worked with for over 30 years. As he was to so many young surgeons, he was my inspiration, teacher, surgical father, and loyal supporter. All these qualities and more are revealed in this remarkably thorough and accurate account. Through extensive research of original archived sources, many interviews, and the use of extensive first-person quotations, the details of this legendary figures life are revealed. For scholars of the national politics of medicine, this book will be a revelation as the author covers DeBakeys influence in Washington spanning almost 70 years in incredible detail. This is a significant and historically important contribution to the history of surgery and the nation.

Gerald M. Lawrie, MD, FACS
Michael E.DeBakey Distinguished Chair of Cardiac Surgery,
Houston Methodist Foundation, Houston, TX

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ISBN 9780190073947

eISBN 9780190073961

by George P. Noon

by James S.T. Yao and Roger T. Gregory

By George P. Noon

The story of Michael E. DeBakey parallels the most potent century in medicine. As one of the fortunate surgeons who worked by his side in the surgery suite and the laboratory, I recognize his genius in pushing the advances of his chosen field of cardiovascular surgeryfrom the roller pump he built while still in pre-medical school, to the Dacron graft that has saved millions of lives so far, to the development of several iterations of ventricular assist devices that may someday morph into a total artificial heart.