What is your greatest extravagance? My coastal home on the Great Ocean Road. What is your current state of mind? Contemplative. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? “Social justice warrior” outrage. On what occassion do you lie? When asked how long a case will take when another patient is to follow in the OR.
Surgery with F ellows and Reg istrars What do you most value in your friends? Loyalty and reciprocal contactibility.
What do you most dislike about your appearance? My dwindling calvarial hair follicles. Which living person do you most despise? Nobody really, but am appalled by a number of political dictators. What is the quality you most like in a man? Integrity. What is the quality you most like in a woman? Determination. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Unbelievable.” What or who is the greatest love of your life? My family. When and where were you happiest? Having Xmas with my extended family tree this year at the coast. Which talent would you most like to have? Fluency in a second language (French). If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Better time management.
Family at birthday
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Picking a great career yet able to enjoy being close to my children’s lives If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A British blue short-hair cat (I have one, what a life!) Where would you most like to live? Where I am in the leafy eastern belt of urban Melbourne. What is your most treasured possession? My bagpipes (Hardy). What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Loss of a family member. What is your favorite occupation? Oral & Facial Surgery (time for a name change!) What is your most marked characteristic? Enthusiasm. April 2017
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Who are your favorite writers? Dostoyevsky, Rand, Zola, Orwell, Courtney, Dawkins, Blainey Who is your hero of fiction? Hank Rearden – “Atlas Shrugged” Which historical figure do you most identify with? None to identify with, but Charles Darwin surely formulated the biggest theory in human epistemology Who are your heroes in real life? Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Stephen Hawking, James Watson, David Attenborough, Roger Federer What are your favorite names? Oliver, Winston, Katrina, Caroline (my children / grandchild of course) What is it that you most dislike? Traffic jams and delayed flights. What is your greatest regret? Being talked out of buying a stack of Apple Shares in the mid-1990’s. How would you like to die? On skis in an alpine avalanche in my late eighties. What is your motto Never give up. ■