Faculty Bibliography

The efforts of Boston City Hospital pediatricians to treat the children of extreme poverty, whose life conditions are dangerous and counterproductive to physical development

In a pediatrician's work, there are moments when all of life comes down to being able to get a certain tube into another tube. A doctor's experiences at a pediatric life-support course are discussed

Back in our conference room, we watch a slide show, starting with pictures of Big Sur and Wales, [Brandon Mably]'s home. 'I worked from those grays,' [Kaffe Fassett] says, showing us a picture of Mably in a stone quarry. On to more designs, some of them breathtaking: the Roman glass shawl, with hundreds of tiny circles on a muted, variegated background, the 'foolish-virgin' jacket with strong folk-art figures. And also pictures of the colors and the objects that inspire them: the reds of a Chelsea flower show, the Red Fort in India. Plugs for Fassett's knitting kits; this is available, that is available. And some statements of knitting philosophy: 'When you run out of yarn is when the fun begins,' Fassett tells us. 'It's a very organic and exciting way of knitting.' He speaks with British intonations, and though he is obviously strongly connected to the designs he is showing us, he is also obviously giving a talk he has given many times before. As a group, the students seem impressed but a little intimidated. AFTER FASSETT'S APPOINTMENT WITH DESTIny on the train from Scotland, he began knitting one-of-a-kind garments; some of these appeared in a four-page spread in British Vogue, and many more were purchased by the wealthy and discerning. His designs were soon recognized as something completely different in knitting designs. He began designing his own line for Rowan Yarns and put together kits that contain instructions and all the materials necessary to complete a project. For yarns and knitting kits, he works with Rowan, for needlepoint kits with another British company, Ehrman. The knitting kits tend to be quite expensive; ranging from $195 to $550, they allow you to replicate almost exactly the complexity of the most elaborate, most difficult sweaters as Fassett and his assistants knit them. Which is precisely what Fassett claims, over and over again, in his books and in person, that he doesn't want you to do; he wants people to take over his ideas, adapt them to individualized color schemes, change them and remake them. So why the kits? 'The kits are to pull people's plug out; they'll do a couple of kits, then get on to doing their own thing.' It's a consuming passion. Fassett has, he says, no social life. 'I'm a total workaholic.' In his studio in London, he employs several knitters, working on his original designs and on the special garments commissioned by the rich and famous. And then there are the convicts. Fassett and Mably have worked with murderers at the notorious British prison Wormwood Scrubs, where inmates are allowed to do needlework in their cells. The murderers, Fassett says, are 'timid' about knitting and more likely to start with needlepoint; they go in for 'quite exciting color.' There was one prisoner who did knit, and enthusiastically: 'I asked what he was in for, and it turned out he was a thief; he used to steal Missoni sweaters. So he knew the value of knitting.'

A doctor discusses the importance of the airway in resuscitating children. One case, in which a child was suffering from bronchiolitis, is described

The search for certainty that a baby will be born healthy leads to many tests, with prenatal diagnosis sometimes starting even before there's a fetus to diagnose. Even with all the technology, the growth of a fetus and the birth of a baby are processes that can't be completely controlled

A doctor who had to have her wisdom teeth removed did not know beforehand whether the procedure was a major or a minor one. She had not expected or planned for the resulting pain

Explaining the world to children is one of those unending parental assignments. One man discusses his children's questions and his answers to the questions. By having to answer a child's questions, parents find out what can be explained and what is unexplainable