Book Description

As a longtime pediatrician, Richard Goldbloom placed a high value on connecting with and communicating with his patients and their parents. His ability to reach an audience is evident in this engaging memoir of his life. Born and raised in a Jewish medical family in Montreal at a time when the gulf between English and French was deep, Goldbloom's physician father insisted that his children be fluently bilingual. Richard was able to move easily between the two solitudes in his early years as a medical student and a young practitioner. An astonishing array of relatives, remembered here in loving detail, passed through their Montreal home. Richard recounts how he met the love of his life, Ruth Schwartz of New Waterford, Nova Scotia, the story of their romance, and how he was persuaded to move to Halifax. Richard became Physician-in-Chief of the IWK Children's Hospital, the leading pediatric hospital in the Maritimes. As a hospital administrator he sought to break down some of the stuffy and dysfunctional traditions of the medical world. As a public-spirited citizen, he and Ruth were intimately involved in promoting and advancing Halifax's cultural and intellectual life for decades. A Lucky Life features many figures from the world of medicine -- and many from the worlds of theatre and classical music, where Richard's contacts were extensive and legendary. This memoir captures the compelling personality of a doctor who understands that healing is an art as much as a science.