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Written
by a doctor who wanted to be an artist
and illustrated by a dentist who thinks
he is an American Civil War soldier,
this book is funny, irreverent, honest,
provocative and at times, very sad. From
the desert sands of Aden to the Eastern
Goldfields of Western Australia, Dr Leo
Laden records some of is experiences in
a witty and easy to read style.
It covers his time as an RAF Medical Officer during the last days of the British Empire, and his family's migration from Cornwall to Leonora. There he performed his first and only post-mortem. The move to Perth involved becoming an ersatz psychiatrist for several years, although the book concentrates on his thirteen years as a venereologist at Perth's VD Clinic.
Originally
planned to be just a record of the funny aspects of work as a pox
doctor, the arrival of AIDS changed everything.
The ramifications were enormous as AIDS appeared to single out
homosexuals, just at the time when they were being encouraged to
"come out the closet" and flex their political muscle.
Our political leaders were terrified of appearing to discriminate
against homosexuals. Instead of what should have been purely medical
decisions to deal with the AIDS epidemic, policies were devised by
bureaucrats, politicians, armchair doctors, academics and the new
breed of non-medical AIDS "experts" and the mismanagement continues.
Dr Laden has now retired from medicine and spends a lot of time
collecting, restoring trading and shooting antique firearms.
He is also in demand to give his very amusing talks about the funny
things that happen at the Pox Clinic or as it has been aptly renamed
by someone else who knows the truth, "the greatest cover up since
the condom."
ISBN 0 85905 215 X
1996 reprint of 1991 edition, Soft Cover, 168pp, 230grams, $22.00
+
POST All Hesperian Press books are
printed on quality paper and will not discolour with age. They
are section sewn, the pages will not drop out and the binding will
not crack. This book is made to last
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