One of the most remarkable writers of delightful and thought-producing English is Dr. Gustav Eckstein, the able professor of physiology at the University of Cincinnati Medical School. My old and good friend Gus once wrote a fine Life of Noguchi, and he has much material, gathered in Pavlov's laboratory, for a life of that distinguished man. But all of us love Gus most for his remarkable books, Lives and Canary.
Many years ago, when I first dropped in to see Dr. Eckstein I found him in a big laboratory room about which some 50 canaries were flying. Gus knew them all by name, and he would say "that one there is sitting by her grandfather" or "that one is having a hard time getting about because recently he had a stroke," or "that one has gone blind." Soon I was to learn what a delightful conversationalist and companion Gus is.