From over 300 essays the late Dr. Massey wrote between 1973 and 2005 for his popular monthly columns in Connecticut Medicine, the state medical journal, the seventy in this collection best demonstrate his breadth of scholarship, concerns about medicine, and skills as a writer and teacher. For ease of reading, the articles are organized into eleven sections by topic, such as the care of patients, medical education, growing old, death and dying, technology, ethics and morality, and the history of medicine. As timely as they are important, these essays lend themselves to discussions in medical schools and other teaching institutions, address issues physicians in practice face almost daily, and provide a touchstone for all citizens concerned about the practice of humanistic medicine today.