Arnold R Beisser

At 24, Arnold R. Beisser, having graduated from Stanford Medical School, completed his internship and planned for a surgical residency. But it was 1950, the United States was fighting in Korea, and Beisser, a Naval reservist, was alerted that he was to be called to active duty. His residency had to be put on hold. In the four months before his orders came, he devoted himself to his second love, tennis, winning a national championship and a high national ranking.

Dr. Arnold Beisser's "graceful passage" is from polio, which completely paralyzed him at age 25, to a basic faith in human nature that has left him jubilant about life. Beisser, who is kept alive by an iron lung, recalls some of his more bewildering and frightening moments: "I did not want to die. Some gross mistake must have happened, I thought. I was the doctor, not the patient; I was the physically strong one who helped others. Like millions before me, I thought, 'I am too young to die.'

Dr. Arnold Beisser's "graceful passage" is from polio, which completely paralyzed him at age 25, to a basic faith in human nature that has left him jubilant about life. Beisser, who is kept alive by an iron lung, recalls some of his more bewildering and frightening moments: "I did not want to die. Some gross mistake must have happened, I thought. I was the doctor, not the patient; I was the physically strong one who helped others. Like millions before me, I thought, 'I am too young to die.'

At 24, Arnold R. Beisser, having graduated from Stanford Medical School, completed his internship and planned for a surgical residency. But it was 1950, the United States was fighting in Korea, and Beisser, a Naval reservist, was alerted that he was to be called to active duty. His residency had to be put on hold. In the four months before his orders came, he devoted himself to his second love, tennis, winning a national championship and a high national ranking.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center President Sheldon King was presented a $200,000 check toward United Hostesses Charities' $2-million pledge to fund a cardiac research floor in the Barbara and Marvin Davis Research Building. The donation took place at the United Hostesses' membership luncheon May 13 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. In addition to welcoming new members, the group celebrated 50 years of fund-raising and announced a $32,500 donation to the Harold J.

Upchurch-Brown Booksellers in Laguna Beach will host a "Hemingway Fest" today and Sunday, with readings and lectures by Hemingway scholars and aficionados. Beginning at 7 this evening, guest speakers will include Noel Riley Fitch, author of "Literary Cafes of Paris" and the upcoming "Hemingway in Paris," who will explore in slides and readings the night life, social events and living conditions of Paris in the '20s. Also scheduled to speak are John Weld of Laguna Niguel, author of "Young Man in Paris," who will talk about his life as part of the Paris literary scene in the '20s; Jim Hinkle, an expert on Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises."

It's the visitors' half of the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series: the Chicago Cubs vs. the New York Yankees at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The score is tied. Babe Ruth steps to the plate. He points his Louisville Slugger toward a spot in the outfield. Crack ! A long fly ball. It's going . . . going. The stunned hometown fans sit silently in the stands as the Bambino's fly ball sails over the center field bleachers and into baseball history. But this ball, rising "like a bubble at the bottom of a ginger ale," keeps on going--over the tenements and stockyards, over the city limits and the state line.

There are men to whom it is a delight to collect the Olympic dust of the course. --HORACE The world's first sports fans probably were the fellows Horace, the lyric poet, wrote about more than 2,000 years ago. At the time, athletic festivals in Rome's Colosseum and the Olympic Games in Greece were popular attractions, stirring the emotions of the natives and diverting their attention from wars, crime and taxes. Sports, in fact, might have been too popular with the Romans.