Stuart Lon Cipinko

This book is part biography and at the same time is an attempt to understand the intellectual, emotional, psychological development of a life lived then lost. It is also part an attempt to comprehend the why and how of the failures of the medical profession which led to his death from a preventable cause; part contention that the cause of his death derived ultimately from the prejudicial effects of the medical paradigms and presumptions; and, finally, a lamentation.This story is not, throughout, linear, yet it generally cleaves to a time-progressive form. It moves, as did Stuart and his partner, from place to place, which here and there are evoked, limned. However, it is the internal journey - psychological, emotional and then physical that this history focuses on.The purpose of the book is to relate this inner journey. And yet... the medical aspects of the final four years of Stuart's life were the provocateur to its writing. How the medical paradigms, prejudices and presumptions that boxed in the minds of the medical professionals influenced their perceptions of him, his diabetes, and his risk factors for heart disease. Within these sections, no one is named except for Stuart. It is the framing and informing of the typical, all too normal and too narrow medical mind that concerns, not the individuals involved. And the unwillingness of these professed knowledgeable to widen their purview to permit entry of new medical understandings because they go against well entrenched prejudices.