Dr. Thornton Brown, a former Editor of The Journal
of Bone and Joint Surgery, died in Canton, Massachusetts,
on July 4, 2000. He was eighty-six years old.
Thornie, as he was universally and affectionately known, came
from an old and distinguished New England medical family. He graduated
from Harvard College in 1936 and from Harvard Medical School in
1940. During World War II, he served with the United States Marines
as a battalion surgeon in the Pacific theater. Following his discharge,
he completed an orthopaedic residency in the Massachusetts General
Hospital-Boston Children's Hospital program. In 1944, he married
Sarah Tyler Meigs of Washington, D.C. He and Sarah lived for many
years in the family home in Milton, Massachusetts, and then in the
Milton and Canton areas, until Sarah's death in 1998.
After finishing his residency in 1948, Thornie practiced orthopaedics
at the Massachusetts General Hospital. However, he devoted the largest
part of his orthopaedic career to the task of being Editor of The
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. After serving as Assistant
to then-Editor Dr. William Rogers for several years, he succeeded
him in 1958. He served as Editor until his retirement in 1978.
It was a simpler and smaller orthopaedic world when Thornie became
Editor, and The Journal (which had been joined
by its British counterpart in 1947) was the sole major orthopaedic
journal. With the rapidly increasing number of orthopaedic subspecialties,
however, it was only a matter of time before many of them would
wish to have their own journals.
Thornie did all that was within his power to improve the rapidity
of publication of articles in The Journal by increasing
the number of issues to eight per year. He also initiated the publication
of Orthopaedic Transactions in May 1977. It was
due to his efforts that The Annual Bibliography of Orthopaedic
Surgery was developed in cooperation with the American Academy
of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Association, and
the National Library of Medicine.
Thornie's two decades as Editor, however, will be best recalled
by the authors who had the privilege of having him work with them
as editor of their papers. His meticulous insistence on the proof
of the accuracy and on the clarity of the material submitted by
authors set the highest standards for publishing in The
Journal. The detailed list of questions that accompanied the
revised, edited manuscript seemingly distressed some authors, but
none could deny that their papers, in published form, were not better
because of it. In the words of one grateful author: "About this
great man? I gave him the ingredients! He made the cake!" Typical
of Thornie's devotion to his work was the large tattered brown briefcase, bulging
with manuscripts that he was editing, that accompanied him everywhere.
Thornie's dedication to The Journal was exceeded
only by his devotion to his family and his church. He served for
many years as a member of the Building and Grounds Committee and
as Chair of the Parish Committee of the First Parish Church, Unitarian-Universalist,
in Milton. His children recall that, on many Sundays, he would go
home after church, change clothes, and return to work at the church
for the rest of the day. According to his minister, Thornie was
not just a pillar, but the foundation, of the church.
In 1979, Thornie's services to the orthopaedic community were
appropriately recognized with his election as President of the American
Orthopaedic Association. He served his year as President in his
typical capable fashion, with self-effacing modesty and devoted
work.
Shortly before his death, Thornie was asked by a caregiver if
there was anything that she could do to make him more comfortable.
"No," Thornie replied; as always, he was "fine." She then asked
if she could help him to move about his room. "Not now," he said,
and then reflected, "In due time, I will dance."
Thornie's legacy to New England includes a son, Dr. Edward Brown,
of Milton; three daughters, Marian, of Grafton, Nina, of Brookline,
and Dixie, of Amherst, Massachusetts; and eight grandchildren. His
legacy to The Journal is an editorial tradition
of honesty and excellence that will not be forgotten. He was a gentleman
in the fullest sense of the word, and he will be sorely missed by
all who knew and admired him.
P. H. C.
H. R. C.
J. C.