A Way of Life (Annotated): An address delivered to Yale students - Paperback

by Eddie Merkel (Foreword by), Eddie Merkel (Author), William Osler (Author)

Sir William Osler (1849 - 1919) was a Canadian physician and helped found Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has been called the "Father of Modern Medicine." This book is his explanation of how he achieved so much in his life and his exhortation for everyone who reads it to do the same. A Way of Life has been introducing people to his philosophy of successful living by way of "day tight compartments" since he first delivered the talk at Yale that spring Sunday afternoon in 1913. In the intervening years, Osler's message remains as powerful and timely as ever, yet his examples can get in the way. Not because they are necessarily dated, but because we don't study mythology, poetry, religion or myriad other subjects in the way they did in his day. In this edition, an attempt has been made to remedy this. The text is unaltered from the original but has been exhaustively researched and annotated in hopes that the examples don't get in the way of the message so that readers of today can still gain from Osler's message.

Author Biography

Eddie Merkel is the eldest son of a Kansas farmer's son and an Oklahoma accountant's daughter. He led a very sheltered life until the age of 15. It was then that Gulf Oil, the employer of his Kansas farmer's son father, transferred his whole family to Luanda, Angola. Eddie was too old for any of the English speaking schools in Luanda, so Gulf Oil sent him to boarding school in Leysin Switzerland. School in Switzerland and exposure to people from all over the world, as well as getting to travel extensively was a significant change from what he was accustomed to. As a result, Eddie went a little crazy. He's been just a little crazy ever since. Cursed by a rabid interest in everything, Eddie could never settle on a major in school. Because of this, he did not finish college, but that does not mean his education ended. An avid reader and autodidact, Eddie is still auto didacting himself about new things to this day. During a stint in the U.S. Army, Eddie met his wife Mireille, and she has heroically stuck with him through all his craziness for over 34 years. Together they have raised three astonishing kids. The kids have all moved out on their own now. As a result, Eddie and Mireille are enjoying their new found freedom. They are now living as old teenagers, exhibiting only slightly more sense and spending vastly more money than most teenagers do.