LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: BOTH GRATEFUL AND SAD TODAY

To the editor:

I sought a dictionary today to find the spelling for the word "scalawag." This word hadn't occurred to me in a while, but it was the first thing that crossed my mind on learning of the death of Dr. James A. Kinder.

Don't read this the wrong way. Dr. Kinder was no scalawag. This was what he called all children who sat on his examining tables, literally thousands of scalawags having come through his office door. He said the word not for any colloquial purpose but for endearment and amusement, and it was as much a part of the doctor's manner as his bow tie and his teddy bear lapel button. All three of my children were scalawags, as was my wife years before. (Like many, we were a two-generation Dr. Kinder family.)

Here's what a good pediatrician does: He comforts young parents as well as sick kids. Two of my children suffered rather normal complications from premature birth. To stressed parents, no complication seems normal. Dr. Kinder stood with us during tough days, explaining the mysteries of medicine in a way that was honest and compassionate.

Competent doctors take care of fevers. Extraordinary doctors remember there are people attached to the science.

Gifts come in all forms, and God gives us the ones he thinks we need. I look at my family, older and robust, and I see gifts every day.

I see Dr. Kinder as a gift too, a person who shepherded them to a life of good health. For that, I am as grateful as I am sad this day.

KEN NEWTON

St. Joseph, Mo.