Can't seem to find a more appropriate forum, so- feel free to move it if needs be.

I've been reading up on the biographies of a number of low-carb advocates. It's interesting to see how long so many of them live. However, I have had problems finding birth/death dates for Dr. Blake F. Donaldson, of "Strong Medicine." Even the Library of Congress doesn't have that bit of information- they sometimes do- and Google isn't helping me any.

Anyone happen to know when he was born, and when he shuffled off? The Eades describe him as a crusty old cardiologist; his book was published in 1962, and he was a physician from the 1920s onwards, but that's about all I have. Any help, please? Thank you!

I checked for Blake Donaldson in the Social Security Death Index. There were only three entries for that name, which kind of surprises me, and only one would fit what you know about Dr Donaldson. The listing shows a birth date of 18 Dec 1899 and a death date of Oct 1981. There's no telling if this is really him, but the dates are a logical fit.

Why didn't I think of that!

Thank you.

Well shoot, that can't be him either. In his book, published in 1962, he mentions it has been 48 years since he graduated from medical school, or around 1913 (assuming he was writing in 1961). I doubt he graduated from med school at the age of 14, so those dates I gave above can't be correct.

I would never look there because I might find myself listed.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=303198

Maybe Blake isn't his real name or maybe he swapped his first and middle names.

Finally found Dr Donaldson in the census and in JAMA journal. Looks like he died at the age of 73. Born in 1893, died in 1966. Not that it matters, but he was married in 1922 and lived all his life in Hauppauge, NY on Long Island.

I don't know that the length of his life has anything to do with the diet he used for his overweight patients. I don't think he ever pushed his diet as the way one should eat all the time. He simply used it for his patients who needed to lose weight. After the weight loss he had them add back in other foods besides meat, and almost certainly followed a 'normal' diet himself.

Self employed people were not included in Social Security until later in the program. I was just looking up wife's grandparents and we had to use alternative searches to find dates of death.

I am Blake Donaldson's grandson. Wish I had more of a chance to get to know him better, but I can tell you that he was a heavy cigar and pipe smoker...like many of his generation. He loved to hunt and fish (Long Island Sound) and had a small farm at his house where he grew corn and other vegetables. He was a doctor overseas in WW1. He loved a well marbled steak!

Thanks Wade. I never met either of my biological grandfathers, but I did get to meet my great-grandfather. Lots of smoking in that generation. 73 sounds young now, but it's really not unusually young for men in that generation, whatever their diet.

For those who aren't familiar with Dr. Blake Donaldson's work .. there's a review of his book "Strong Medicine" on our lowcarb.ca host site, under the Plan Reviews section.
Do check it out ... The Inuit-style Meat-only Diet

Thanks, Doreen. After reading this thread, that's the question I was trying to answer.

Out of curiosity I just checked with Amazon and they have paperback copies of Dr. Donaldson's book for prices ranging from $32.95 to $1,840.57. I wonder if the more expensive edition comes with a gold-plated guarantee to reach goal weight in ten days or less.

Pat

You can read the full book online from HathiTrust Digital Library, as it's now considered "public domain".

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt...;view=1up;seq=1

Thank you, Doreen!