ASTMH is saddened to learn of the passing of two longtime members and honors the legacies of Victor Lee Kovner, MD, FACP, and Jerome Jay Greenbaum, MD.
Alan Spira, MD, DTM&H, FRSTM, FAAEM, FAAMA, was a colleague of both men and writes of their commitment to the medical community, their families and the mission of ASTMH.
Dr. Victor Kovner passed away in December 2011. He practiced medicine for nearly 50 years and was a pillar of the Los Angeles medical community. We worked together when we both served the Hollywood film industry in the 1990s and 2000s, sharing patients and covering practices on opposite sides of the Hollywood Hills.
Vic worked for the Peace Corps Public Health Service in Venezuela after finishing medical school. It was an assignment which sparked a passion for--and a love of--clinical tropical medicine. He had a travel clinic as part of his private practice and was happiest when evaluating and treating post-travel tropical medicine quandaries. Vic's medical interests were broad; in addition to tropical medicine and internal medicine, he was dedicated to the care of the dying and created the hospice at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. His empathy for those suffering knew no bounds: He gave free medical care to those who endured torture from many countries. He was an active member of an advocacy group helping cancer patients cope with the pain of their disease. Even after he retired to his ranch in San Diego County, he still provided care for those in need, helping the disabled through an organization that used horses and horseback riding as a form of therapy.
His wife, Donna, was as energetic and caring as he was. Vic was dignified and dynamic, and had an infectious sense of humor. Above all, he was compassion defined.
Dr. Jerome Jay Greenbaum, known to all of us as "Jerry," passed away in September 2011 after a long series of health problems. He was a feisty and energetic physician who was easily recognized at ASTMH and ISTM conferences, and even though he suffered from Guillain-Barre and was eventually confined to a wheelchair, he had a spirit his body could not contain.
Jerry moved to San Francisco from Yonkers, N.Y., at the age of 12. He was a Bay Area institution, having graduated from UCSF and later practiced at the original Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco for over four decades. He founded the travel clinic at Kaiser and was truly one of the pioneers of travel medicine, practicing pre- and post-travel medical care decades before it came into fashion.
Jerry was a raconteur, a lover of the good life and a connoisseur of fine food and wine. He had a wry sense of humor and loved San Francisco. He took great delight in Janet, his wife of more than 30 years, as well as in his children and grandchildren. He loved people and it showed. His home was always open to me and to others. The dinners I shared with them in the chateau and over two decades of conferences are some of my finest memories, rich with wit, charm and intelligence. I had the honor to work with him professionally and counted him as a friend. He could be counted on. He was a mentor. He was indomitable.
These two men laid the path that many of us follow today. Let us honor that path with the same passion that they showed. I count myself lucky to have had these giants among men in my life. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for their pioneering efforts.