The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 100, July 1996 - April, 1997 Page: 530

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

limited themselves to supplying a first name that Lea momentarily has forgotten.
One would not expect him, or anyone other than a dedicated bibliomaniac, to
recall such trivia as the size of press runs. But if this information is deemed im-
portant enough to put in print, then the editors could, and should, have verified
the information. On the rare occasion when Lea may have "misremembered"
something, they do not contradict him. Thus when Lea inadvertently misplaces
the Southwest Museum in San Diego, rather than Los Angeles, they do not cor-
rect the error.
Such minor flaws aside, Lea's recollections of a life in art, with an emphasis on
the Southwest, are as revealing as anything we are likely to get from him. And all
the more so if one has a rudimentary knowledge of the people he is talking
about. Make no mistake, this is talk. Like good, reminiscent talk around a fire-
place with a fine bourbon in hand. It is not the polished prose of A Picture
Gallery. This is the real Tom Lea, with much of the old reticence abandoned.
With all due respect to Antone and West, this book and Hjerter's-with its
(mostly) good color reproductions-are essential on any shelf devoted to Ameri-
can art. The disappointment here is the "see-through" quality of the paper on
which the book is printed.
Stringtown, Texas AL LOWMAN
Hearts, Helicopters and Houston: 50 o Golden Years of Heart Disease as Seen by an Insider.
By Don W. Chapman, M.D. (Austin: Eakin Press, 1996. Pp. xiv+171. Fore-
word, preface, acknowledgments, illustrations. ISBN 1-57168-089-6. $17.95,
cloth.)
In this very readable text, Don Chapman conveys his sense of awe and respect
for the numerous medical advancements that have occurred within his own life-
time. Although he begins by contrasting his physician-grandfather's humble
horse-and-buggy housecalls with his physician-son's modern-day rescues on the
Hermann Life Flight Helicopter, the core of the book is, appropriately, a collec-
tion of vignettes and reminiscences from his own personal life and professional
career.
The content and orientation of the chapters are varied. Many focus on his in-
sider's view as a heart surgeon at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston
where Chapman witnessed and participated in numerous "firsts" in medicine,
for example, the development of coronary heart bypass surgeries and the first
American heart transplants. Others describe his personal friendships with other
pioneering Texas heart doctors, notably Denton Cooley, Michael DeBakey, and
Antonio Gotto. He includes anecdotes about celebrities and politicians whose
lives have intersected with his over the past five decades; and, Chapman also of-
fers expert advice about nutrition and exercise to avoid heart diseases. In his fi-
nal page, titled "Musings of a Medic," he recognizes that the price that has been
paid for increased medical technology is that the "physician's more highly paced
schedule has shortened the time allotted to patients" (p. 171).

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