ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

have dedicated this book to both my mother and my father. They remain the two people to whom I give the most credit for my ef­forts in this book, and for the person I am today. My mother always provided delicious home-cooked meals, and my body never wanted for good nutrition while I was growing up. Furthermore, both my father and my mother always engaged me intellectually, and they both encouraged me to think independently as much as possible. Finally, they always loved me and always made it clear that that love would always be there. A better environment in which to grow up would have been hard to find.

My brother, John, and my sister, Cathy, have always been there for me as well. Even though John became a psychologist and Cathy became an engineer, they both always provided a reliable sounding board for me to express my latest medical or scientific thoughts, giv­ing me invaluable feedback. John played a major role in opening up my mind to ideas that my traditional medical training tended to im­mediately reject, even though the ideas often proved to be true. And like my parents' love, the love I have received from both of them has been a source of great support and strength to me.

My brother-in-law, Tommy, and my sister-in-law, Delia, have come to be sources of great support to me as well. Having their love and understanding along with that of my sister and brother has only made my life better as I have grown older.

xiv Acknowledgments

My good friend and mentor, Hal Huggins, has helped me enor­mously. It was he who introduced to me the incredible world of medicine beyond what I had learned in medical school, and beyond what I learned later when I served on the Tulane medical faculty, followed by the private practice of cardiology. What is even more amazing to me is that it took a dentist to teach me to appreciate the most important concepts of medicine. I regard Hal as having initi­ated my second medical education. His friendship and support have been invaluable over the past eight years.

Two other friends, Robert Kulacz and Lina Garcia, have also been very supportive of me and my work over the past few years. Both have been good sounding boards for my ideas.

David Groner has been a very good friend for a very long time, and his support has been invaluable to me for many years now.

J. W. McGinnis has also been a source of support and encourage­ment over the past eight years. He was president of the Interna­tional Tesla Society when I first met him. Talking at the annual meetings of the society allowed me to expand my medical and sci­entific horizons—and it was at one of those meetings that I had the opportunity to meet Hal Huggins. J. W/s friendship has been equally invaluable over the years.

Few have been as blessed as I.