Member-only story
The Country Doctor Who Cured Insanity
John Ferguson lost his own mind before revolutionizing drug therapy in mid-20th century America
“If you’re going to write about my work, you kids’d better know and tell right out what’s been bad about me,” Dr. John (Jack) Ferguson said in the spring of 1956 at the lakeside home of one of Michigan’s most celebrated medical writers, Dr. Paul de Kruif. The 29-acre estate’s wildflower namesake, the Wake Robin, bloomed as intensely as the apéritifs.
Multiple times a day, Jack recited a prayer. He had carried a copy, given to him by his mother, in his wallet for years.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
“Who wrote that?” asked de Kruif, the answer almost certainly loitering behind his needle-sharp stare.
“It’s from the AA’s prayer,” Jack answered, his soft-spoken, nasal reply suggestive of a childhood also spent close to the Great Lakes.
“But you’ve never been an alcoholic.”
“That’s right,” said Jack, his dark eyes shining, “but I’ve been worse.”
