In 1972, journalist Donald A. Schanche (1926-1994) conducted a series of interviews with DeBakey as part of his research for a planned biography. Schanche worked on the project for several years, but the book was never completed. Several letters in the NLM DeBakey Papers indicate that Schanche, though a talented, experienced writer and editor, had difficulty drafting DeBakey's life story because of the sheer number and variety of DeBakey's interests and achievements. In 1976, Schanche joined the Foreign Division of the Los Angeles Times, and moved to Cairo. It appears that neither he nor DeBakey were able to follow up with the biography.. Topics covered in this interview include: Further discussion of DeBakey's work in the Surgical Consultants Division during World War II: writing for the army medical journal, writing speeches for the Surgeon General, researching the organization of Army medical services and how they might be improved; traveling to the European front to assess medical services; spending a week with General Patton; a dispute with an Army surgeon over his inefficient use of personnel.
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