Happy holidays!
Cheers! Cotton 2025 Holiday letter
Family
Hanging up my clubs
I hung up my endoscope 14 years ago. Now my golf clubs can join them in the closet. My legs are reluctant to take me from the golf cart to the green (if ever I found one.) For the last 25 years I have had the great pleasure of playing at Bulls Bay club in
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Fred learns about the Barber’s pole…..
Friends of Fred the adventurous snake will recall that he had an accident in the first book when he first ventured out onto the street. “He thought the stripey barber pole was another snake, but, oh my soul, he dashed across with never a glance, into the path of an ambulance”. Whilst recovering from his
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Perdy and Jack join Fred’s adventures
Fred started as a bedtime story for my then young children, Andy and Nicky, a very long time ago. Andy and Nicky 1969 bedtime story text When Nicky had her children, she asked “What happened to Fred-Fred”. I found the 1969 text and a wonderful illustrator, Bonnie Lemaire. We published the first book “When Fred
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2025 is the year of the snake! Go Fred!
Did you know that January 29, 2025, marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake? Fred is rather pleased. Wikipedia says “The lunar calendar consists of a cycle of the twelve animals, in sequence: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Each year, an animal is paired with
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Famous Authors of children’s books, and me!
While contemplating writing another of my books about Fred the lovable snake, I have been remembering the authors which captured my imagination as a child, and perhaps awakened my own muse. There were four authors, all British, like me… Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) is of course famous for “Through the looking glass” and “Alice in Wonderland”.
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Holiday greetings
In previous years we have sent our annual end of year holiday letter by snail mail. To save trees (and some funds/energy) I have attempted to send it mainly by email. Recognizing that some of the addresses are probably outdated, I am attaching it also here. Apologies if duplicated, mis-fired or irrelevant. Ignore at leisure.
Why Snake, and why Fred?
You may know that I write books for young children about Fred the snake. I am often asked, and you may wonder, why choose a snake? Snakes are not most children’s favorite pets or cuddlies. Surely a koala bear or a cute dog would have been a better subject, and gotten more traction in the
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Our Endoscopy book over 5 decades
In 1980, Christopher Williams and I published the first textbook for GI endoscopy We were working at The Middlesex and St Marks Hospitals in London. My photo of The Middlesex was taken after it closed (it lives on as part of UCL). My Unit was on the second floor, here shown boarded up. St Marks
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Goodbye Medicine. Saluting some mentors.
So, as of Jan 1st 2024, I am finally retired, exactly 60 years from graduating, 50 years after starting specialist practice at The Middlesex Hospital in London, 37 years after leaving England to work at Duke University in North Carolina, and after 30 years at the Medical University in Charleston. It will not be a
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