About

I became interested in writing about Hans Kraus —  JFK’s secret doctor — in 1993.  I had been writing since 1991 for magazines such as Climbing Magazine, Crain’s, Outside, American Banker, Rock and Ice, and Runner’s World.  Then Rock and Ice Magazine asked me to write a series of profiles on leading climbers, one of which happened to be Hans.  That was the first time that I met Hans and I was pretty quickly struck by what a remarkable man he was.  I grew convinced that there was a lot more to his story than what came out in the interviews for a 3,000 word magazine piece.

A year later, I got a call from Hans.  He explained that he had just come from his doctor and had been diagnosed with cancer. He had been trying to write his memoirs, unsuccessfully.  Did I want to work with him to write his life story?  If so, we needed to get started immediately.

Thus began for me a remarkable period in my life, where very Tuesday night and often on weekends, I would sit with Hans in his apartment in Manhattan or his country house near the Shawangunks and listen to him talk. Sometimes it was a formal interview, sometimes more of a conversation between friends.

When Hans was alive, my focus was working with Hans as much as possible. After his death, I threw myself into the considerable research for the book, which was medical as as well as historical.  The result is JFK’s Secret Doctor.

A bit more about me:  A long time rock and ice climber, I used to teach scuba diving in Manhattan, was a divemaster on shipwreck dives in the North Atlantic, and veteran of several marathons.  A member of the Literary Board of the American Alpine Club, I am a partner to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, been interviewed by the New York Times, highlighted in a front page article in the Boston Globe, and appeared in a New York Times business video which ran on JetBlue flights.