Our deepest sympathies are extended to the family of Dr. John Cannon. If there were words that could express the positive difference that Dr. Cannon has made in this world, we have not found them, because he was light-years above his “peers,” of which he had none, in our opinion. My wife and I first met Dr. Cannon in 1988 in the midst of a family medical crisis to which he responded like no other. He treated the patient as a whole person and elevated the profession of medicine into an art form. His devotion to high standards was absolute, and he feared nothing. Whether the “unknown” was a disease, a medication, a condition, or an organization standing in the way of good care, Dr. Cannon was there. Dependable, caring, and human. He came to our rescue any time of day or night, and coordinated medical care in four states, and two countries, and in so many specialties that it would take a full page to list them. But to speak of him as “a medical man” is an injustice. He was much, much more than that. He was a man who stood for integrity in everything he said and did, and could carry on a conversation with a child as well as with the president of a university or of a multi-billion-dollar manufacturer of pharmaceuticals. He relentlessly wrote letters and met with officials to advance the cause of searching for cures to spinal cord injuries (not to mention a dozen other ailments), and so impressed attorneys that they thought he was one of them. And after he “retired,” he met with us at the Borders Bookstore at least half a dozen times to write letters to senators and politicians, and even to a recalcitrant insurance company or two that had had the audacity to question why the patient’s life was worth saving (too expensive). And in response to any and all who raised such questions, physicians from Harvard, Yale and two dozen other institutions literally lined up to support Dr. Cannon – and the reason they did so was because of one and only one thing. Dr. Cannon’s judgment was not to be questioned. Dr. Cannon redefined what it means to be a humanitarian. Sometimes people are given to clichés like “words cannot express,” but this is one of those times when the old adage about words really hits home. And it does so because Dr. Cannon was not just a man of words – he was a man of action. Words could never begin to express the goodness that Dr. Cannon has brought to this world, and the continuing legacy that will live on forever because of the actions of a man who has meant so much to so many. To say we will miss him forever is an understatement, and in a time of such great loss, it’s easy to concentrate on the negative. There’s no way Dr. Cannon would tolerate this. Both of us can hear his voice, and we can see his vivid bow tie. So, until we meet again… Edward and Darlene Orr