1983 Dr Rockwood gave me the opportunity to be his first outside fellow, unpaid I might add. Our lives, and the lives of my brother fellows, and ASES members have been intertwined since. Having had a melanoma earlier in that year with an unsure prognosis I had only wanted to stay 3 months, but he convinced me by telling me about this new shoulder and elbow society that was formed the year before was going to require a six month fellowship. I was thus gifted the incredible opportunity to meet and learn from the “old masters” Charles Neer II, Carter Rowe, Frank Jobe, Bob Neviaser, and their students.

 

An obituary for most of us is the final mention of an individual. Except for the occasional thoughts and memories of close friends and family, we pass into the ether with this document being the summary and sum total of our lives, a final chapter. However, when we teach, and write, like Charley Rockwood did, there’s an afterword, or more appropriately, yet another edition that is perpetual; an afterlife if you will, that mirrors immortality. Because of his ability to organize, distill, and impart knowledge in such a unique way, Dr. Rockwood will be in the hearts and minds of orthopedic surgeons, and their grateful patients for generations to come.

 

I came to San Antonio with aspirations of becoming a knee surgeon. After a discussion with Dr. Rockwood about my future in my third year of residency, my plans changed. I was to become a shoulder surgeon. It is hard to overstate the influence this one man had on my life—both professionally and personally.

 

Professionally, to put it simply, I owe my entire career to him. I would not be a shoulder surgeon; I would not have chosen to pursue an academic path; I would not have gotten my first job at the University of Pennsylvania. I certainly would not have had the privilege of serving in leadership roles in orthopaedics and shoulder surgery without his loyal support and his lessons in leadership. He was one of those rare people who was equal parts superior clinician, gifted teacher, and unparalleled leader.

 

From a personal perspective, I do not know where to start. I spent the first five years of our relationship scared to death of him. My fellowship year allowed me to really get to know the man. At the end of a long day, my responsibility was to get the ice and meet him in his office. We would share some nice Tequila (Herradura anejo) and a cigar. We talked about his time in the Air Force, about how he built his orthopaedics division to the independent department it became, about his many trips to visit Dr. Neer to learn shoulder surgery, how the field of shoulder surgery developed, how it morphed into shoulder and elbow surgery. These many wonderful discussions inevitably turned to life—the importance of faith and family. He truly wanted to know where I came from, what my plans were, how my wife and I met. I still get goose bumps when I recall those great evenings. He lived his life so, so well. He left a roadmap for all of us to follow. I loved him like my own father and will dearly miss him. The beauty is that there are at least a couple of hundred other people who feel the same way. What a legacy.