The Other Side of Elliott Jaques

Speaker A So many people saw the hard side of Elliot in presentations very few people saw. I found him to be the most decent, kind, concerned, and funny guy. One of the funniest I'd ever met. I wish there were a way that that could be diffused. He's extremely decent, extremely kind, and gentle. Now, one time right after we met, I came down with acute appendicitis and had a ruptured appendix, and it turned into peritonitis. And I found out later that I nearly died. I didn't know I was out of it. Elliot was living up here on Ridge Road, and I began having hallucinations. Terrible, frightful hallucinations. Now, I understand people who take drugs love the hallucinations. I didn't find them. I just found them terrifying. And I called Elliot and told him I'm having hallucinations. And he said, what hospital are you in? I was in GW Hospital across the river here. And he said, I'll be there in a half hour. You know, Elliot only wore string ties, these bolo ties. And what are these sandals called? Birkenstocks. Birkenstocks. I never saw him without the Birkenstock song. And in a half hour, Elliot walked into the door in a pinstripe suit.

Speaker B A vest.

Speaker A A tie with a Windsor knot, and wingtip shoes.

Speaker B And I thought I was having another hallucination. And he said, I've got your problem solved, Jerry. You won't have any more hallucinations. And I said, what did you do? And he said, I stopped by the nurse's station and changed your medication they were giving you. He named us something. It says it's outlied in England because it causes severe hallucinations.

Speaker C And I said, My God, Elliot, I.

Speaker B Didn'T know you had a license to practice medicine in Virginia.

Speaker C And he said, I don't. And I said, Well, I didn't even know you had a license to practice medicine anymore. And he said, I don't.

Speaker D And I said, well, how did you do that?

Speaker C And he says, I may not have a license, but I know hospitals and how to work them.

Speaker D And I said, well, we could all.

Speaker C Get in trouble for that. And he said, Right now, only three people know what I've done me. And I'm not stupid enough to tell anybody else. Your wife's standing there, Beth, and I.

Speaker A Know she's not stupid.

Speaker C That leaves only one person. He might be stupid enough to spill the pink. And I was so sick, and I started laughing, and he said, so I guess it depends on how stupid you are.

Speaker D And he said, I'd stand and talk.

Speaker C But my feet are killing me in these shoes. And he disappeared. And I have always.

Speaker A Loved the decency of the guy for dropping everything and coming over when I was in trouble. I think he probably did that for a lot of people, and if he didn't, he was available to do that for a lot of people and was willing to do that for a lot of people. I, at times when I try to tell about that, I start crying because he was so funny and so decent, and, boy, I didn't have hallucinations anymore. But that's a part of him that I don't think people are aware of. It comes through occasionally in his writing in a dry, like the book, the Life and Behavior of Living organisms, the little page things of alchemy and then organization, development. And if you read them structurally, you can't tell one from the other. I read that, and I just broke out laughing. And yet I don't think most people will think that's funny, but then they miss the essence of who the guy is and was and what he has to offer.