House Calls

For over forty years, Dr Marvin Brown served the medical needs of the inhabitants in and around a small town in central New York State - a rural area encompassing some 400 square miles - armed only with his trusty 'black bag' and a generous measure of hope and compassion. Neither rain nor snow nor dead of night could keep Dr Brown from his appointed rounds - whether the call was a life-threatening childbirth or a twisted finger. To reach his patients, many of whom lived far from paved roads or telephones, he was often forced to resort to such creative modes of transportation as sleighs or snowshoes. In the frequent absence of heat, light, and electricity, his intuition was often the only thing standing between life and death. Throughout the challenges, frustrations, rewards, and triumphs of his chosen path, Dr Brown was blessed with the unfailing love and support of his beloved wife and children.