Harry’s Homilies-Prescriptions for a Better Life is a book of wise sayings, wise cracks, and personal philosophy. The author, Harry L.S. Knopf, M.D. has spent the last 6 years publishing a column, which presented this material in monthly segments. Each page contains a pithy statement followed by a paragraph or two of explanation. The author hopes to convey a positive outlook on life, especially that of the physician.

Although the contents address problems that may be more appreciated by fellow doctors e.g. patient care, surgical complications, aging, blindness, the underlying messages are applicable to many other professions and life situations: living, loving, marriage, tragedy, happiness, and generosity, to name a few.

The book is purposely small enough to carry with you. Dr. Knopf hopes that, no matter where you are you can take moment, open it to any page; read it, and gain some small insight from the message.

HARRY L.S. Knopf, M.D. has been an ophthalmologist in St. Louis, for more than 25 years. He is, however, a person who wears many hats.

Before entering private practice, Dr. Knopf was educated at Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. After graduation in 1967, he spent an internship year at Duke Hospital and then entered the US Public Health Service. After 3 years of research and 3 years of residency at Washington University Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, he joined one of the oldest ophthalmology practices in St. Louis. In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Knopf has done volunteer work for Project Orbis in four foreign countries, and served as an officer in city and state medical societies.

Dr. Knopf has always had a desire to write. At first he applied it to the scientific literature, where he authored or co-authored more than two dozen papers and book chapters. In 1996, he approached the St. Louis Medical Society and asked for a column in their journal, St. Louis Metropolitan Medicine. There began the monthly offerings titled "Harry’s Homilies." The collection of these bits of philosophy form the material in this book, Harry’s Homilies- Prescriptions for a Better Life. Dr. Knopf has also published several poems, which are reproduced in the book.

Photography and music occupy another part of Dr. Knopf’s busy life. His photos have won several prizes in local competition, and they have been published in St Louis Metropolitan Medicine, Missouri Medicine, and calendars sponsored by the Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Company. Between photo shoots, he sings with a synagogue choir, which performs at local nursing homes.

In an interview for "BJC TODAY," the newspapers for one of the health-care systems in St. Louis where Dr. Knopf attends, he said: "I’m blessed with an enormous amount of energy. I never just sit. I’ve been able to channel all my energy into doing something. I think life is great. I’m just happy to be alive. I wish I could make other people as happy as I am."

In 1997, Dr. Benjamin Milder published a history of the Ophthalmology Department at Washington University. In it he described Dr. Knopf this way: "Harry was perpetually upbeat, vocal and fun - an amalgam of Broadway and the Borscht belt of the Catskills. He was iconoclastic, irrepressible, and brilliant."

The most important part of
caring for patients
is
CARING for patients.

As a physician, I have been a matchmaker, confessor, entertainer, comforter, and healer. I have laughed and cried with the patients.

I can still remember the sadness I felt when my first longtime patient in private practice died. I missed her. Caring is more than "taking care of". If you put yourself into a truly caring relationship, the rewards will be much greater than the effort.

Sometimes, someone provides
so much food for thought,
that it feels as though
I have overeaten.

As a teacher, it is sometimes difficult to know how much to teach at one sitting. I often have a single day to teach medical students or residents all that I know about ophthalmic diseases. Trying to compress 25 years into 60 minutes is a daunting task. And try it after an on-call night when their eyes (and ears) are half-closed!

Teaching is not so different from doctor-patient interaction: knowing when to be quiet and when to talk; knowing when to say something funny or serious; understanding when silence will do.

Knowing when to stop.

Your patients will appreciate that.