GOULD AND HIS CHIROPRACTORS Gould had a long association with chiropractic. In 1955, he was referred to Dr. Herbert Vear, then in practice on Toronto’s Danforth Avenue, who continued as his primary chiropractor until he was invited to become the Academic Dean at Western States Chiropractic College in 1976. Over the ensuing 20 years Dr. Vear had the opportunity to know Gould well: “On one occasion shortly before we moved to Portland, Oregon, Gould invited my wife and me into the living room. We had a Hardman Peck piano which Mr. Gould played, and gave a short demonstration of his skill. His only comment was that the keyboard was ‘a bit stiff and needed loosening up’. We still have the piano and my wife still gets pleasure in playing.” Gould’s various aches, pains, injuries and aliments are well known. Among them was the diagnosis of a compressed nerve in his cervical spine which Gould attributed to the Steinway incident 16. One modality Dr. Vear used to treat Gould’s mus- culoskeletal complaints was application of ultrasound. When administered over an affected area, the ultrasound generates a deep warmth creating the sensation, in Dr. Vear’s words, of a “mini-massage”. In 1951, Dr. Denny Bennett was the first chiropractor in Ontario to own an ultrasound machine. Dr. Vear became the second, shortly thereafter, when he acquired a Medical Electric Company portable ultrasound unit similar to the one featured in photo B. Apparently, Gould liked Dr. Vear’s ultrasound unit so much, Dr. Vear ordered one for him. While on holiday, once, Dr. Vear asked Dr. David Drum to take over his patient load which, of course, included Gould. Dr. Drum recalls: “Glenn had a rotator cuff problem at the time, an injury he attributed to being roughly embraced at Steinway’s in New York City when he was trying out a piano. I had been warned of his aversion to being touched, but the only eccentricity he displayed was phoning and asking me to turn off my office air conditioning two hours before his appointment. It was a sweltering summer day, but I did as requested. Imagine my surprise when he arrived wearing a sweater and promptly shook my hand! He was in the middle of recording the Liszt transcriptions of the Beethoven piano concertos. We hit it off when he found out I had a concert grand piano in my apart- ment right across the street. This was in l967. After the treat- ment he insisted on trying out my Heintzman #100,000 which was once played by Liberace. I simply abandoned my patients in the waiting room not wanting to miss the opportunity of a lifetime, and Glenn played my piano for about 40 minutes... said the upper and lower registers were wonderful, but the middle was disappointing. I was thrilled with my private recital and enjoyed all his therapy sessions that summer immensely. I scarcely recall what I did. We talked music. Many years later, I dated the concert pianist, Helena Bowkun, the only graduate of The Royal Conservatory of Music with higher marks than Glenn and she adored him and was deeply wounded as we all were with his premature passing from a cerebral haemor- rhage. He was absolutely charming with my patients and never included me in his list of late night chats on the phone.” AND THE CONNECTION TO US Shortly after Gould’s death in 1982, Drs. Silvano Mior and Daniel Proctor – then a CMCC clinician and intern respectively www.canadianchiropractor.ca – received a call from their personal insurance agent inquiring if they would be interested in acquiring any of the physiothera- peutic instruments contained in an estate he was handling. It transpired, Dr. Mior writes, that “our insurance agent also hap- pened to be the executor of Mr. Gould’s will. We purchased the ultrasound unit because the executor did not want it to fall in the hands of a non-health care worker. After preliminary dis- cussions with the Gould Foundation, we chose to donate the unit to the library.” And the Medical Electric portable ultrasound unit itself? Since, Dr. Vear tells us, Gould only owned one, CMCC’s Medi- cal Electric portable unit would be the very same one ordered by Dr. Vear for him almost sixty years ago. AFTERLIFE Gould’s sudden death stunned the world, but his music and his legacy continue to inspire, challenge and captivate. In a city where Gould’s passing is still recent memory, references to Gould are everywhere. His spirit emanates a presence that is still immediate, fresh and vital almost as though he was here in the room moments ago – and you just missed him. Endlessly self-contradictory, Gould was a hermetic fi gure who touched the lives of many by the sheer iconoclastic brilliance of his pianism. If you are one of these, I’d like to hear from you. (szoltai@ cmcc.ca) Any light you can shed on Gould’s health concerns, his connection to chiropractic or personal anecdotes that you’d like to share would be appreciated. Gould’s beloved Steinway CD318 is on display in the lobby of the National Library of Canada. His Medical Electric ultrasound unit is on display in CMCC’s Health Sciences Library. Glenn Gould: a Canadian Great. • REFERENCES 1. www.classicalnotes.net/columns/gould.html 2. www.bbk.ac.uk/english/skc/gould.htm 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould 4. http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/music/ topics/320-1673/ 5. http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/music/ topics/320-1673/ 6. www.bbk.ac.uk/english/skc/gould.htm 7. www.classicalnotes.net/columns/gould.html 8. Bazzana, Kevin. Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould., 2003; p. 330, 355-361. 9. Bazzana, Kevin. Wondrous Strange: The Life and Art of Glenn Gould., 2003; p. 356, 420-421. 10. Ostwald, Peter. Glenn Gould as Patient. http://www.collections canada.gc.ca/glenngould/028010-502.17-e.html 11. www.bbk.ac.uk/english/skc/gould.htm 12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Gould 13. www.hermitary.com/solitude/gould.html 14. www.hermitary.com/solitude/gould.html 15. Ostwald, Peter. Glenn Gould as Patient. http://www.collec- tionscanada.gc.ca/glenngould/028010-502.17-e.html 16. Hafner, Katie. A Romance on Three Legs: Glenn Gould’s Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Piano. Bloomsbury, 2008; p. 108. CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | OCTOBER 2008 • 33
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