John was born 1939 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. His mother

(Constance) and father (Walter) had one other son, Graham, who was born in 1941.

John graduated from Charing Cross Hospital Medical School in 1964 and was sent to

New York by Bryan Brooke in 1973 where he was offered an Assistant Professorship at

Mount Sinai Medical School in 1974. He also worked at its affiliate, the Bronx VA

Medical Center where, as Assistant Chief of Surgery, he developed a revolutionary new

liver surgery technique using the Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator which cut blood

loss by two thirds and was adopted worldwide. In 1981 he was recruited to New York

Medical College as Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of GI Surgery which

included the liver surgery centre for the Hudson Valley Region. Teaching courses for this

technique involved him in monthly overnight flights to St Louis. In 1987 he was

promoted to Professor of Surgery and in 1990 taught monthly laparoscopic gallbladder

courses, always fully booked, well into 1991.

Unfortunately, in 1997 he developed prostate cancer, and the surgery left him with a

paralyzed right leg, which took eight months to recover. However, he was recruited by

the Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he spent the

rest of his professional life. He could no longer do liver surgery, but developed a large

clinical practice based on laparoscopic surgery, and, over time, ano-rectal surgery, for

which he received referrals from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey, as well as New

York. He also ran the Surgical Student teaching course at Weiler Hospital, the Eastern

hub of Montefiore. On retirement in 2012, he was made Professor Emeritus of Surgery at

Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

At Charing Cross, he met Jean a fellow medical student, and they married in 1967. They

had three children, four grandchildren, and Jean went on to become the Chief Medical

and Research Officer at Castle Connolly Medical in New York City. He was a keen

member of the Larchmont Yacht Club, and owned five successive yachts, all named

Boadicea.

John passed in Greenwich, CT on May 7th , 2026.