Archive for the ‘chiropractic history’ category

Deliver Your Message to Garcia

December 27, 2013

Deliver Your Message to Garcia[originally published in KCN, January 2014]

“Deliver your message to Garcia” is hardly what you’d expect to read on a bathroom wall, but it is precisely what was scribed above the faculty toilet at the Palmer School of Chiropractic a century ago.  BJ Palmer, our profession’s developer, was known for making the walls of his learning institution “speak” — even if the wall happened to be in the bathroom.  No square inch was safe from his sign-like display of painted epigrams.  The school was covered with thousands of these short, pithy, thought-provoking sayings. They were designed to not only spark interest, but reflection, and over time, action.

While many were self-explanatory, like “Keep Smiling,” some were not. “Deliver your message to Garcia” may be nonsensical to us today, but it had great meaning and cultural popularity in the first part of the twentieth century. (more…)

A Slice of Humble Pie

November 8, 2013

423545_lemon_pie[originally published in KCN, February 2012 and Spizz Magazine Vol 1 Iss 4 2012]

With over 100 shows of our Spinal Column Radio podcast under my belt — taking my son, Logan, and I coast to coast to interview some of chiropractic’s greatest minds — you can imagine that I’ve got a story or two.

One such story took place in the farmlands just outside of Portland, Oregon.  Logan and I were invited to heft our studio down to the Big Top Legacy Gathering — a regular old-school chiropractic philosophy turnout held under a circus tent. (more…)

Magical Chiropractors

November 1, 2013

Magic Hat[originally published in KCN, November 2013]

“What separates a good chiropractor from a great —or magical — chiropractor?”

That was the question I was confronted with when a novelist from Italy reached out to me for technical assistance with her latest book.  I’ve been asked a lot of questions about chiropractic since I first stepped foot in the profession twenty-one years ago, but never this one. (more…)

Finding Harvey Lillard: Chiropractic’s First Patient — podcasting “6 feet over”

September 18, 2013

harvey-lillard-grave-marker[originally published in KCN, October 2012 and Spizz Magazine ,Vol 2 Iss 2, 2013]

I’m always on the lookout to break from the confines of my studio to record another episode of Spinal Column Radio.  Whether it’s firing up the mic to podcast on a sandy beach, conduct an interview while soaking in a hot tub, or introduce our show at 2500 feet from the backseat of a Cessna, my creative side is always thinking ahead.  Such was the case when I approached Dr. Graeme Gibson for an interview atop the grave of our profession’s first patient:  Harvey Lillard. (more…)

Top 100

September 13, 2013

Top 100[originally published in KCN, September 2012]

The other day I had the chance to be interviewed on an Internet radio show designed to introduce youth to the various professions that have been ranked by the Jobs Rated Almanac as the Top 100 Careers for the next decade. “Chiropractor” ranked number 19.

(more…)

Remembering the Forgotten Seattle College of Chiropractic

August 30, 2013

[originally published in KCN, September 2013]

A chiropractic college in Seattle?  Bizarre.  That’s what I first thought when I heard about it.

Chiropractic Diploma Seattle 1a- retouch

(more…)

Stepping Back in Time: Serenading a Radio Station

August 23, 2013

[originally published in KCN, June 2012]

Certainly you’ve heard a song played on a radio station, but I bet you’ve never heard a song played about a radio station.  Well, thanks to my antique collecting crony, I have.  And would you believe it has a chiropractic connection? (more…)

Spizzerinctum

August 16, 2013

spizzerinctum 2[originally published in KCN, July 2011]

The word on my white board the other day was “spizz” — a word that invariably provoked a question from each one of my patients.

“What does spizz mean, Dr. Lamar?”

“Well,” I would reply, “it’s short for spizzerinctum.  Does that help?”

“No,” was the answer with a smile, I heard 99.9% of the time.  No one knew what it meant — except for one elderly lady. (more…)


%d bloggers like this: