PEOPLE AND EVENTS

• Dr. Spock, Paediatrician to Millions, Dies
• Thoppi Velenda, Kandyan Style.

Dr. Spock, Paediatrician to Millions, Dies

Writer of Baby Manual and Leader of Anti-Vietnam War Protests Was 94

By Bart Barnes

Dr. Benjamin Spock, 94, the paediatrician who wrote the definitive child-rearing manual for a generation of American parents and then, two decades later, led their grown children in the anti-war protests of the 1960s and early 1970s, died Sunday in San Diego.

Dr. Stephen Pauker, who had been Dr. Spock's physician for 12 years, said that he died with his family at home. Dr. Spock had suffered a heart attack, stroke and several bouts of pneumonia.

His book, "Baby and Child Care," had sold more than 43 million copies in the United States and other English-speaking nations when the fifth edition of the book was published in 1992. It has

been translated into 38 languages and distributed in 31 foreign countries, and more copies of it have been sold than of any other single American title.

Its publication in 1946 coincided with the beginning of the post-World War II baby boom and its influence was so universal that the generation of children reared after its publication was often known as the ''Spock generation."

When they rebelled against authority and staged disruptive and violent protests against the war in Vietnam, several of their elders blamed Dr. Spock, who by then had become one of America's most celebrated anti-war protesters. Not only was Dr. Spock leading the protests, his critics complained, but he was also responsible for a permissiveness in the early child-rearing patterns of the young protesters that caused them to run amok in the first place.

Dr. Spock always insisted that his views had been misinterpreted and that, in fact, he supported a firm disciplinary hand in the raising of children.

But it was also true that his methods represented a break with the prevailing wisdom that existed before the publication of "Baby and Child Care." Then, leading thinkers in the field of paediatrics struck an authoritarian pose and urged parents to follow a rigid schedule in the feeding and toilet training of their babies. Overt displays of affection were discouraged and hugs and kisses were considered inappropriate, as was permitting a baby to sit on a parent's lap.

Instead Dr. Spock urged: "Don't be afraid to love... Every baby needs to be smiled at, talked to, played with, fondled — gently and lovingly... You may hear people say that you have to get your baby strictly regulated in his feeding, sleeping, bowel movements and other habits — but don't believe this. He doesn't have to be sternly trained... Be natural and comfortable and enjoy your baby.''

Tall and lanky with a deep, booming voice, Dr. Spock soon became a surrogate paediatrician to millions and his book, which initially sold at the rate of a million copies a year, made his name a household word throughout America. It also increased his annual income substantially, by $25,000 to $60,000 between 1950 and 1970, later up to $150,000.

He began every edition with this advice: "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do." He avoided medical jargon, writing in a straightforward, down-to-earth manner that young parents found reassuring and easy to understand.

His own mother, upon reading the book for the first time, commented, ''Why, Benny, it's quite sensible."

In the ensuing half century, the book was revised several times and included new or expanded sections dealing with the roles of fathers in pregnancy and childbirth, divorce and single parenting, teenage pregnancy and new medical information about the likes of milk, eggs, orange juice and aspirin.

Responding to attacks by feminists that he was an oppressor of women, Dr. Spock revised his 1976 edition to play down traditional boys' and girls' sex roles while re-emphasizing the household and parental responsibilities of fathers.

In a "Divorce, Single Parents, and Stepparents,'' section, which he added to the 40th anniversary edition in 1985 Dr. Spock warned that mothers who gain custody of children would find the early post-divorce period difficult. The children he said, would be "more tense, demanding, and complaining... and simply less attractive."

But the basic thrust of "Baby and Child Care'' never changed, and when critics complained that Dr. Spock had failed to update the book sufficiently to keep abreast of new developments, he answered simply that he got it right the first time.

Not until he was in his late 50s did Dr. Spock become a political activist. He became deeply disturbed by the United States' resumption of nuclear testing in the atmosphere in 1962, and on a spring Saturday in Cleveland he joined a demonstration in support of nuclear disarmament. ''It was like a bad dream of being outside without any clothes on," he said later.

Over the next few years, Dr. Spock lost most of his inhibitions about taking part in protest demonstrations and became one of the early opponents of US involvement in the war in Vietnam.

''What is the use of physicians like myself trying to help parents to bring up children who are healthy and happy, to have them killed in such numbers for a cause that is ignoble?'' he said.

As the war in Vietnam intensified in the late 1960s, so did Dr. Spock's participation in anti-war protests.

- IHT

Thoppi Velenda, Kandyan Style.

A view from the hills

A monkey and a surgical collar is news. I mean to say, there's this Mr.Wolf at the IFS, Hantane Road, who is studying monkeys (more about him soon), but even Herr Wolf may not be able to tell us why a simian wants a surgical collar. It so happened that a gentleman and his wife went calling on a couple of Russian students from Petersburg. The students, on a visit, were at a nice little guest house in the hills, and the place is also the lurking ground of the monkeys. The gentleman and his wife drove there. They have a daughter studying in Russia and the student visitor could carry back love and that all important parcel. So far, so good.

While matters progressed within, the monkeys chased the vehicle . The driver had left the doors open (in this heat everything is left more open than usual) and on a seat was the lady's surgical collar. She hadn't wished to keep it around her neck while visiting. The collar intrigued the monkeys who edged up, then swiftly leaped in, seized the collar and made for the trees. The driver was most indignant. "Eka nonage!" he yelled, but the monkeys were not impressed. They were considering their prize with a curiosity only monkeys are blessed with. Having alerted the nona and mahattaya, the driver began semaphoring wildly. The monkeys were delighted. "Look ma, there's a man making a monkey of himself!"

The mahattaya gave a slow smile. He told the driver to throw something at the collar collarers. The driver picked up a piece of dried coconut husk. His aim was good. The monkeys scampered out of range, some saying "eek" and the others "ook". Another coconut husk followed. Then another. The monkeys decided that counter-measures were called for. You guessed it, they flung the surgical collar and their aim was pretty good. It plopped upon the driver's head and everybody laughed quite insanely for the poor man did look like he had his head in something Mae West scorns to wear.

The Russian students declared that it was the highlight of their visit. "Sri Lanka," one said ecstatically, "good monkey place, yes?"

Tricks of the trade.

You will meet M... anywhere where people owe money to other people who have abandoned all hope of getting their money back M..is a "recoverer". He beetles along on a little motor scooter sometimes and is a very busy body in Kandy, chasing the debtors and telling them of the error of their ways. M... is a character. He is short and pugnacious and quite unmindful of personal danger. But as he told me, he has this system. In the beginning, he found his attempts to get people to cough up quite hazardous. He had been threatened, tossed out on his ear, told to go to Bosnia and asked whether he wished to be beaten to a pulp.

"But I settled all that, " he says smugly. "Now everybody pays up and my clients are very happy."

You see, M..no longer goes alone. He takes along an Army pal and says, "Pay up or the Army will make your life hell."

"But you can't go around threatening people with military action," I said.

He grins. He tells me what I can do with my objections in very colourful language. Such an ingenious little cockerel.

Microhard Windows ' 98

All is still far from well in the upper reaches of Colombo Street, even if the bomb is now a painful memory. Buildings are apparently still in that jellied state and no one can be sure how safe they are. Last week, someone in the Bank of Ceylon in Colombo Street decided to open a first floor window. He pushed, and instead of swinging open like any self-respecting window, it simply gave way, plunging to the street. A natami who carries anything one puts on his back, was picking his nose on the pavement when the window fell on him. Deeply gashed, he's been to the doctor three times so far and regards all banks with the deepest suspicion. Ah, these dangerous times.

Whose airline is it, anyway?

Met the Editor of AirLanka's inflight magazine "Serendib" at the Peradeniya Resthouse. Outlined a proposed piece on the beautiful and most famous Nilambe Buddhist Meditation Centre where travellers from Germany, Korea, Britain, the US and even Alaska come to unwind, free themselves from the stresses of their lives. "Yes, but if this place is run by a political opponent AirLanka will not allow it," he said.

Huh! is AirLanka the preserve of the PA? Phoned Manuela Motha of AirLanka Marketing. "Well yes," she said brightly, "it's policy."

Policy my eye! Is this a party airline or a national airline? Does AirLanka refuse to sell seats to Opposition stalwarts and their supporters? Will the good Harry tell us what's what? At Least, I'm decided. No more writing for "Serendib". So there!

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