Aust. J. Derm. (1976), 17, 34

OBITUARIES

HOWARD WADMORE LINN

Barely five months after the death of hisfather, Les, Howard Wadmore Linn died on31st March, 1975, at the age of 57.

With bis passing, the South AustralianEaculty of the Australasian College of Derma-tologists lost its hard-working, conscientious andreliable secretary and Council member andmany people lost a loyal friend.

After attending Prinee Alfred College from1933 to 1939, Howard graduated from theAdelaide University in 1944. His term as aresident medical officer at the Royal AdelaideHospital was cut short by a long illness.

During 1946 and 1947 he worked as a clinicalpathologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital andin 1949 he was appointed medical superintendentof the Northfield Wards of the Royal AdelaideHospital aud he held that position until 1953.During tbat time, be did a great amount of work

with victims of the poliomyelitis epidemic,which was raging at the time. This work wasrecognized by the award of the TravellingFellowship of tbe National Health and MedicalResearch Council, which took him to Englandin 1951.

Following further research, the University ofAdelaide in 1954 awarded him the degree ofDoctor of Meelieine, for a significant contributionto medical knowledge contained in his thesis" A Clinical Inve.stigation of Some Aspects ofthe Diagnosis of Poliomyelitis ".

During 1954 and 1955, he was a Fellow inDermatology at the Royal Prince AlfredHospital, Sydney, at the end of which fellowshiphe obtained the Diploma in DermatologicalMeelieine of the University of Sydney audtowards the end of 1955 he joined his father inprivate practice in Adelaide.

OBITUARY 35

His dermatological service with tbe RoyalAdelaide Hospital continued till the time of hisdeath. He served through the varicjus stages ofclinical assistant, honorary assistant, honoraryand consulting dermatologist. He also servedthe Glenside Hospital (1956-1972) and theAdelaide Children's Hospital (1958-1963).

On the wider profe.s.sional scene, Howardbecame a member of the DermatologicalAssociation of Australia in 1955 and a foundationmember of the Australasian College of Derma-tologists in 1967. He served both of thesebodies excellently, as a Council Member andSecretary of the South Australian Faculty—positions wbicb he held at tbe time of his death.

Howard was a concerned Christian and heexpressed that concern not only in hisprofessional life but also in his Church and in tbecommunity. Practically all the offices whichare open to laymen in tbe Methodist Church,were filled by him over a period of many years.

Rotary, with its high ethical ideals, attractedhim aud he was very active in the work of theAdelaide and Mitcham Rotary Clubs. During1974 he served as President of the MitchamClub and, as such, he had the duty of presentingto the club his Christmas message in E)ecember,1974—three mouths before his death, when he

was well aware of the inevitable course of hisillness.

A tribute to Howard, publisbed in theMitcham Rotary Club's Bulletin, of April, 1975,said : " We took special notice of his Christmasmessage, which, in his condition at the time,meant so much to him personally. Taking aqueitation from Minnie Louise Haskins, he said :

1 said to the man who stood at the gate ofthe year' Give me a light that 1 may tread safely into

the unknown 'and he replied :' Go out into the darkness and put your hand

into the hand of God.That shall be to you better than a light and

safer than a known way ' ".

The tribute concludes :" Tbis adequately summed up his life. Short

though it was in years, bis contribution tohumanity was great ".

We share with his wife, Helen, and hischildren Kay, Janet and Robert, a great senseof loss in the passing of a highly respected andgreatly loved husband and father.

TREVOR TURNER.

HARRY BLACK

It is a sad privilege to write an appreciationof my great and good frienel, Harry Black.

Harry died suddenly on September 6th 1975while on holiday with his familj^ in Fiji and welost a dermatologist of great excellence. Hewas a rare eombination of the devoted doctoranel the dedicateel scientist and was aconsultant's consultant. Many of us derma-tologists in New Zealand would refer some ofour difficult cases to Harry for his valuedopinion, such was our regard for his diagnosticand therapeutic knowledge.

Born on October 19, 1919 in Wellington,New Zealand, he was eelucated in that city anelspent two years in the public service beforeyielding to the strong urge to study medicine.He graduated from Otago Medical School in1945. After two years as house surgeon inWellington he was accepted as registrar in tbe

professorial unit at Otago. A further two yearssaw him feel the challenge of dermatology.

He proceeded to Edinburgh in 1951 where hestudied at the Royal Infirmary under ProfessorPercival. In 1952 he became Registrar inDermatology under Dr. Ingram whosehumanitarian and scientific approach to thisrapidly developing specialty left a strong andlasting impression. In 1953 he was SeniorDermatological Registrar at St. Mary's iuLondon and worked and studied at St. John'sHospital for Diseases of the Skin.

His subsequent return to practise as adermatologist in Auckland was a great boon forNew Zealand. In 1965 he became VisitingDermatologist to Auckland Hospital. Iu 1968he was Commonwealth Senior Travelling Fellowin Medicine and this took him for six months toimportant centres of dermatology in Britain,