Barclay Slocum

July 16, 1942 - April 14, 2001

Barclay Slocum was a very special person...a gentle, quiet very private person who played it fairly "close to the vest".  He functioned on a different plateau and listened to a different drummer than most.  When corporations are making one, five and ten year plans they encourage their "think tank" personnel to try to think "outside of the box".  Barclay seemed to think outside of the box as a matter of routine.  This was one of the traits that seem to distinguish him from some of the previous greats of veterinary orthopaedics.  He was always pushing the edge of the envelope; sort of the Chuck Yeager of veterinary orthopaedics.  Barclay had the courage and fortitude, and belief in what he thought was right, to go against the tide and continued to work for the things he believed in when many others were saying "this doesn't sound right".  He was a bit of a Renaissance man in that he was a student of physics and mathematics, a farmer of sorts, an inveterate inventor, a non-judgmental teacher, a considerate colleague who appreciated the thoughts and works of others and gave appropriate credits, an author and a worldwide lecturer.

He was a veterinary orthopaedist in private practice, and contributed more to the advancement of our clinical understanding of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament deficient canine stifle than anyone since the early works of Saki Paatsama.  He was instrumental in the formation and continued advancement of AVORE (Association for Veterinary Orthopaedics Research and Education) and was honoured by the members.  He was co-editor of the fourth edition of Current Techniques in Small Animal Surgery, had over sixty publications and over four times that numbers of lectures to his credit.  Awards received include the AAHA Outstanding Practitioner Research Awards, University of Oregon Profiles in Achievement Awards, and the prestigious AVMA Practitioner Research Award, among others.

The TPLO (tibial plateau leveling osteotomy) was performed, and proposed by Barclay, as a method of eliminating the cranial tibial thrust that is present in ACL deficient knees.  By chance, or design, the procedure was initially taught to a small group of AVORE surgeons, the result of which was to minimize the incidence of technical failures, allowing the TPLO method to stand or fall on its own merits.  The growth of the TPLO, as a procedure, was rather slow, primarily because of the reluctance or inability of the average competent veterinary orthopaedist to make the "leap of faith" from the traditional (anatomically based) procedures to the new force driven technique.  Prior to peer group approval, the leap was particularly difficult in the early years.  However, once the leap was made, there was no turning back.  Virtually no one, after having successfully performed a TPLO in the large breed of dog, reverts back to offering the traditional options.

The rest is history:  From the "full house" presentations at the most recent ACVS meeting in San Francisco by Christine Warzee and Peter Schwarz, to lectures and laboratory sessions at the ESVOT (European Society of Veterinary Orthopaedics and Traumatology) meeting in Munich, 2000; currently the TPLO is being embraced by much of the veterinary orthopaedic community.  Although seeming most alive when performing or teaching veterinary orthopaedics, Barclay was fiercely loyal to and concerned about the welfare of his family and their future, and he frequently spoke affectionately of them to friends.  He believed in a helpmate for life, as evidenced by his continued devotion to Theresa Devine Slocum who greatly assisted him in his many projects, lectures, life, and final time.

The things I remember most were:  the fireside chats during a camping and fly fishing trip down the middle fork of the Salmon River with Barclay, Theresa, and my wife Brenda.  Barclay catching an alligator while fly fishing for bass in the Everglades with Theresa, and playing horseshoes at his home in Eugene.  I especially remember my final course with Barclay in Eugene in February in 2001.  Bob Olds, myself, Ken Sinibaldi and Gary Brown took notes and asked questions as Barclay lectured and dissected.  Barclay had lost 70 lbs in weight, and sat while he lectured.  When we went to lunch Barclay went for radiation therapy.  It was the last time I saw Barclay.  He never quit teaching, he gave at least one more course after that in Eugene, but now being even weaker, a colleague participant had to assist with the dissections.  But the thing I remember most is - he was my friend, and I, and many others, will miss him.

Affectionally,

Jon F. Dee  

Hollywood, Florida, USA

Originally appeared in V.C.O.T. 2001:14:(3)