Dr. Gordon Steinbach Myers

Doctor.

In the fall of 1954, as a fourth year student at Harvard Medical School, I was assigned to a one-month rotation in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). There were four medical teams, and the other three had as their attending physicians three of the then clinical giants at the MGH. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that my attending physician was a man named Dr. Gordon Myers, of whom I knew nothing. In fact, I had never heard of him. To use the current vernacular, Dr. Myers "blew me away!"

That one month at the MGH proved to be the highlight of my medical school experience. Dr. Myers was the greatest clinician and teacher that I ever encountered in my four years at Harvard and in fact he ranks with the best I have ever known. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of medicine, and patiently drew out the best in all of us. He had an engaging personality, a fantastic sense of humor, and great empathy with patients. He instantly became my role model, and it was at the end of that month with him that I decided to become a cardiologist.

Gordon Steinbach Myers was born in Willmette, Illinois on May 18, 1915. When he was still very young, his family moved to Marion Station, Pennsylvania. where he grew up. He graduated from Harvard University in 1936, and from Harvard Medical School in 1940. He served an internship and residency at the MGH, following which he entered the United States Navy from 1944-1946. He returned to the MGH to complete his fellowship in cardiology under Dr. Paul Dudley White. He joined the Staff of the MGH in 1948, and rapidly established himself as a major force in clinical cardiology. He was one of what we residents at the time dubbed "The Four Horsemen." Dr. White, and his successor Dr. Edward Bland, brought to the MGH cardiology staff, with Gordon, Drs. Allan Friedlich, Edwin Wheeler, and Conger Williams. Together they represented one of the most competent teams of clinical cardiologists anywhere.

In 1950, Gordon Myers with Drs. Gordon Scannell (a cardiac and thoracic surgeon) and Dr. Friedlich, performed the first cardiac catheterization at the MGH. He was codirector of the cardiac catheterization laboratory until 1962. In his early career, Dr. Myers performed some outstanding clinical research, including some seminal work on pulmonary hypertension in mitral stenosis.

For several years, Gordon maintained a large and active clinical practice, in addition to a major teaching load. He was a great physician and his patients loved him. One of his patients thought so highly of Gordon that he bequeathed him his beloved Mercedes, which Gordon proudly drove for years!

Gordon was a person of great vision, and early on saw the enormous potential in echocardiography. In 1973, with Dr. Robert Lees, he founded the first cardiac non-invasive laboratory at the MGH. Gradually, he gave up his practice to pursue his interest in cardiac ultrasound.

In 1980, he left the MGH with Dr. Lees to set up a non-invasive laboratory at the New England Deaconess Hospital. Subsequently, he finished his career at a cardiac clinical and research center attached to the joint Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He achieved the rank of Associate Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School.

In 1939 Dr. Myers married Nancy Swift. They were an extraordinarily close couple, and were totally devoted to each other over the sixty-one years they were married. Nancy, who now resides in a retirement home in Charlottesville, Va. is remembered for her sparkling personality, her keen wit, and her infectious laugh. Gordon and Nancy loved to travel, especially to Europe.

Gordon had a wonderful sense of humor and was a practical joker. He loved gadgets, which perhaps explains in part his attraction to echocardiography. He was also passionate about his second home in Isle au Haut, Maine, where he summered for almost forty years.

With the infirmities of age, Gordon and Nancy gave up their beautiful home in Needham, Ma. and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to be closer to some of their family. It was there that he died on September 23, 2000.

In addition to Nancy, Gordon is survived by four children: Christopher A. Myers of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, Dr. Alexander Myers (also a cardiologist) of Milton, Massachusetts, Deborah S. Strzepek of Charlottesville, Virginia, and James S. Myers of Berwick, Maine. He also had six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Gordon was in fact somewhat of a private person, and in later years we his former colleagues at the MGH-saw very little of him. Yet we will always remember him with great warmth, respect, and fondness.

I am personally particularly indebted to this great man for the profound impact that he had on my life. - Roman W. DeSanctis, M.D.