Richard Atwood

A Passion for Music

Laurie Kelley February 21, 2021

Richard Atwood

Have you heard of the Currence Brothers? This band from West Virginia played and recorded gospel, bluegrass, and country music in the 1970s. The band members were known for their musical talent, especially with the banjo and fiddle. And two Currence brothers, plus their nephew, happened to have hemophilia. These band members overcame hardships to fulfill their passion for music.

            For five generations, the musically inclined Currence family lived in High Germany on the Randolph-Upshure county line in central West Virginia. They lived in a six-room house on a small farm, four miles from a paved road. The nearby one-room school in High Germany housed 45 students in eight grades.

            Every member of the large Currence family—including seven boys and five girls—either played a musical instrument or sang, though none was trained or ever had a music lesson. The children and their parents would listen to a battery-powered radio or hear live entertainment, then pick out the tune on guitar, fiddle, or mandolin. At home or in church, the family members sang and played musical instruments.

            There appeared to be no family history of hemophilia. That is, until one of the Currence boys, Junior (1923–1925), died at age two after he bled out from a bumped nose, and hemophilia was later suspected. Junior’s younger brothers Jimmie (1932–1992) and Loren (1934–1987) grew up with bleeding issues, but they never visited a doctor until they were teens. There was no ice for treatment and nothing for pain, though the reason for this is unclear. The brothers applied high-powered liniments from Blair products for hemorrhages into their joints.

            Jimmie and Loren seem to have visited at least one local doctor, and they were treated as “bleeders.” It’s possible that lack of money, transportation, and awareness of the need for a hematologist may have prevented visits to an appropriate specialist or hematology lab. Before factor VIII factor concentrates became available, the brothers received blood transfusions. Loren once received sixteen pints of blood for a kidney bleed. When Jimmie had a stomach bleed as a teenager, he received a pint of blood from his brother-in-law. The boys were often laid up from hemorrhages into their joints or from other internal bleeds.

            Jimmie and Loren didn’t have their hemophilia diagnosed until the early 1960s. Dr. Mabel M. Stevenson, a hematologist at Morgantown University Hospital, diagnosed severe classical hemophilia in both brothers, who then called themselves “severe hemophiliac bleeders with near-zero clotting factor.” Neither brother could ever find full-time employment or get insurance. They both received supplemental social security, and the state of West Virginia paid for their medicine because they couldn’t afford it. Both brothers married, and each had three daughters.

            Brothers Jimmie, Loren, Marvin (“Shorty”), and Buddy—along with Malcomb Pastine, a nephew who also had hemophilia—formed the Currence Brothers Band. Loren played guitar, sang, and managed the band. Jimmie played fiddle and banjo, winning banjo and fiddle contests in four states: West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Jimmie won the fiddling championship in West Virginia for four consecutive years, and was undefeated grand champion in Maryland in 1970. Then his elbow bleeds forced him to switch from fiddle to banjo. Malcomb played guitar, and even did turkey calls. Buddy sang, while Marvin played the fiddle.

            The Currence Brothers began spreading the gospel by playing their music at church functions. They traveled the country, usually in their van, to play in concerts and on radio or television. The band even recorded on their own, or with notable musicians, producing several albums in a genre they called Gospel Grass, along with a mixture of popular tunes. They collaborated with musicians including Larry Groce, who they met at a talent show at the firehouse in Parsons, West Virginia; Woody Simmons, who lived in Randolph County; Clyde See; and “Country” Charlie Jordan.

            You can find Currence Brothers music on old vinyl records and in a few YouTube videos. Check out the following albums:

   • The Currence Family, Precious Memories (Lark Records, n.d.)

   • Larry Groce and the Currence Brothers (Peaceable Records, 1975)

   • Larry Groce, Junkfood Junkie (Warner Bros. Records, 1976)

   • The Currence Brothers, He’s Coming Back to Earth Again (Major Recording Studios, n.d.)

   • The Currence Brothers Sing and Play Gospel Grass (Major Recording Studios, n.d.)

   • The Currence Brothers, Ballads and Instrumentals (Major Recording Studios, 1978)

   • The Currence Brothers, Muddy Boggy Banjo Man (Major Recording Studios, 1979)

   • Woody Simmons, All Smiles Tonight (Elderberry Records, 1979)

   • The Currence Brothers, That’s the Man I’m Looking For (Augusta Records, 1981)

   • Clyde See with the Currence Brothers (Augusta Records, 1983)

            The Currence Brothers are known for their talent on the banjo and fiddle, not for having band members with hemophilia. Their hemophilia did not define them, and it never prevented them from making music. Of course, some accommodations were made—switching instruments due to elbow bleeds; not playing at some events or traveling as much as they wanted—but not at the expense of their artistry and passion. Today, other family members continue the Currence musical tradition.

To learn more, read profiles of the Currence Brothers and other West Virginia musicians in Mountains of Music (University of Illinois Press, 1999), edited by John Lilly.

With a Little Help from My (Hemophilia) Friends

Laurie Kelley November 10, 2014
While I’m on vacation this week, please enjoy this fascinating bit of hemophilia rock trivia from our colleague Richard Atwood of North Carolina!

During their 1964 tour of America, the Beatles stayed in Los Angeles for five days. The band rented a mansion at 356 St. Pierre Road in the Hidden Hills neighborhood of Bel Air. They held a sold-out concert on Saturday, August 23 for almost 19,000 paying fans seated inside the Hollywood Bowl, plus another 10-15,000 gate-crashers in the trees outside the amphitheater. Capitol Records planned to record the live concert but the continual shrieking by the audience prevented a good sound recording. After
their performance, the band members partied until dawn at their gated house
with about 30 starlets, including Peggy Lipton, Joan Baez, Billy Preston, and
Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson (known as Paul and Paula).
Then on Sunday afternoon, Brian Epstein and the Beatles attended
a charity garden party hosted by Alan Livingston, the president of Capitol
Records, in the Brentwood backyard of Livingston’s mother-in-law. The party was a fundraiser for the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California. Livingston’s wife, the actress Nancy Olson, was a foundation board
member. Hollywood celebrities were charged $25 each to bring their children.
This event, held on August 24, 1964, raised $10,000.
“At the party, Livingston went to great lengths to accommodate the Beatles, who, after being cold-shouldered by the label, had rocketed Capitol’s profits into stratosphere. No expense had been spared to stage a Hollywood-style spectacular. A festive striped tent had been set up in
the spacious backyard, where vendors dispensed soft ice cream and lemonade to a litter of gorgeously groomed children. There were pony rides and games. Security was unparalleled, befitting a presidential visit, with a fully armed riot squad stashed in the garage, just in case. The guest list was a who’s who of local dignitaries, complete with a selection of hand-picked celebrities, each of whom was required by the hosts to bring a child: Edward G. Robinson had in tow his granddaughter, Francesa; Lloyd Bridges, his son Jeff; Rita Hayworth, her daughter, Princess
Yasmin Khan; Donald O’Connor, his son, Freddy, and daughter, Alicia; Jack Palance, his daughter, Holly; Eva Marie Saint, her son Darrell, and daughter, Laurie; Barbara Rush, her son Christopher; Jeanne Martin brought five of Dean’s children a few feet in front of Jerry Lewis, who bolted as soon as he saw them, leaving his son, Gary, behind rather than risk an encounter with his estranged partner.” (pp. 527-528).
The Beatles were not impressed with the fundraiser. “We saw a couple of film stars,” John [Lennon] relented, but added: “We were expecting
to see more.” (p. 528).
Richard writes: The hemophilia fundraiser was just a minor event in the definitive biography of the Beatles. Captured on news footage and
reported by Saul Halpert, the hemophilia fundraising event has since been posted on YouTube. Other celebrity guests who reportedly attended but were not recognized in the biography included John Forsyth; Groucho Marx; Jack Benny; Jack Lemmon; Rock Hudson; Dean Martin; Richard Chamberlain; Hayley Mills; Shelly Winters; Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper; Los Angeles mayor Sam Yorty, his wife, and his son, Bill; and Kenneth Hahn with his daughter, Janice. A multitude of teenage fans and press reporters remained outside the mansion gates that Sunday afternoon.
 
From Bob Spitz, 2005, The Beatles: The Biography. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. 984 pages.The 984-page biography of the band includes 32 pages of photographs, 4 pages for Acknowledgments, 87 pages for Notes, 11 pages for a Bibliography, 3 pages for a Discography, and 21 pages for an Index. The author lives in Connecticut.

NOW, CSL

Laurie Kelley February 23, 2014

I was unable to attend the fabulous NOW conference in Arizona this weekend, for women with bleeding disorders, where I was supposed to give a speech on Saturday. This assumes you have a voice. Which I did not. Returning from the Caribbean with a devastating chest cold (I think I inhaled mold from the AC system in the old hotel I slept in) and a voice that made me sound like a serial killer with laryngitis, I opted sadly to stay home and recover. So now (NOW) I don’t have a report on this great event, funded by the way by CSL Behring.

Speaking of which, here’s a book review by our colleague Richard Atwood in North Carolina about a book about CSL, or CSL Behring as we know it now. Even if you don’t read the book, the facts below are interesting. Having a business background, I’m always interested in knowing how these companies formed, and became what they are. Especially while I was in Barbados, a country which imports factor VIII from two companies, CSL Behring being one of them. Some of the there doctors didn’t realize it’s an Australian-based multinational company. 


Committed to Saving Lives: A History of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories
A.H. Brogan, 1990,  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Hyland House Publishing Pty Limited. 301 pages.
SUMMARY: The government of Australia formed the Federal Serum Institute in 1916 and subsequently changed its name to the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories the following year. Despite its name, CSL had the mission to prepare vaccines, serums, and anti-toxins. As a pioneering public-sector manufacturer, CSL was prepared for the 1918 influenza pandemic by providing the diphtheria and tetanus immunizations. Subsequent public health achievements were the extraordinarily quick provisions of insulin in 1923, penicillin in 1944, Salk antipoliomyelitc vaccine in 1956, anti-D antiserum to prevent Rh disease in 1966, and tuberculosis vaccine. Although CSL had the statutory authority to run a pharmaceutical business, tension persisted for the next 75 years as to whether CSL was a commercial manufacturer or a national public health and research organization. Regardless, the government wanted a profit from a company that provided pharmaceuticals for both humans and domesticated animals.
   CSL conducted blood typing research, and then for the Second World War preserved whole blood and dried human serum for blood proteins. Whereas the UK, USA, and Canada used plasma for war casualties, CSL used serum to prevent spreading hepatitis. The war stimulated blood fractionation around the world beginning in 1941, using either the ethanol method developed by Cohn at Harvard or the ether method developed by Keswick in the UK. CSL implemented the Cohn method in 1945 using voluntary non-paid blood donors through the Australian Red Cross. Production began in 1953 for globulin, albumin, and fibrinogen, then in 1961 for AHG using the Cohn method modified by the Blombacks of Sweden, followed by cryoprecipitate until 1969, AHF in 1970, AHF HP (high purity) in 1972, Improved Intermediate Purity AHF in 1979, PPSB (Prothrombin, Proconvertin, Stuart Factor, Haemophilia B Factor) in 1968, and Prothrombinex in 1972. After learning from America in 1982 about the virus that was later to be called HIV, CSL began experiments in 1983 of heating AHF products and then implemented heat sterilization of FVIII products in 1984. CSL also produced the confirmatory Western blotting test for HIV-I beginning in 1984. Meanwhile, CSL upgraded and expanded the facilities for plasma fractionation.
COMMENT: The history of CSL for its first 75 years up to 1990, whose book title has the same acronym, was written by its recently retired personnel director. As an insider, the author confesses to be a partisan, and rightfully highlights the many medical accomplishments, but also includes some of its misfortunes. The book, which includes 121 photographs, 17 pages of Notes, 3 appendices, and a 9-page Index, ends with several questions regarding an uncertain future, whether CSL would continue to be owned by the government or be a candidate for privatization. CSL is a model for a government-owned commercial enterprise in the public health sector that accomplished its mission. It is also a case study for the continual difficulties imposed by government meddling in the public health research, development, and commercial activities that hindered its mission. Blood and blood substitutes were only a small part of the many commercial activities performed by CSL for the citizens of Australia and world-wide.

Great Book I Read
The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino [Kindle]

Published in 1968, this has become a timeless classic not just for sales, but for business, for life. A very simple story, set in the time of the birth of Christianity, with profound principles about being your best, making your life, not being a victim to chance but defining who you are, what you are and what you are to become. You can finish this in one sitting, but guaranteed it will stay withyou a long time. You can read this as a business self-help book, or as a way to build better character and life. I read it a long time ago for one and now read it for the other. Much in the style of Paolo Coelo, though Og came first! Five/five stars.

Hemophilia and the Amish: A Novel based on Facts

Laurie Kelley September 9, 2012
Hard to imagine, but with health care reform dominating the elections, there are pockets of Americans who choose not to have coverage, and instead rely on out-of-pocket costs: the Amish are one such group.
And while a novel, the book The Choice (2010) by Suzanne Woods Fisher, depicts life with hemophilia in mostly accurate terms in the Amish community. The following was submitted by our wonderful PEN contributing writer, Richard Atwood, of North Carolina.
Carrie
Weaver, a blond-haired, blue-eyed Amish girl in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, moves to Stoney Ridge at the age of 12 when her father, Jacob Weaver, who has hemophilia, remarries. Her mother died giving birth to Carrie’s younger brother, Andy. Over two years, Carrie has to suddenly grow up and make adult decisions that test her faith. Solomon Riehl, or Sol, who was born and raised Amish, receives a one-year contract to pitch baseball for the Lancaster Barnstormers. Sol asks Carrie to marry him outside the community. Sol enjoys his running-around years, the Rumspringa, that period before joining the Amish Plain folk with baptism,while being lured by the worldly “English” life. Carrie, who is attracted to Sol, is tempted to elope, despite objections by her father, until a horse unexpectedly kicks Jacob in the head. The Amish do not accept government assistance and do not buy health insurance. Esther, Jacob’s second wife, thinks infusions of factor IX cost too much so Jacob receives no treatment for this accident; he dies.
Oddly, Carrie’s biological mother had been a frail carrier of hemophilia; Carrie’s brother also has hemophilia. Carrie quickly makes a life-altering choice; she chooses to care for her brother and to marry her father’s preferred suitor, Daniel Miller. Their marriage, held soon after in September, is one of convenience that is not consummated. Unfortunately, Daniel is killed in the following March when his horse and buggy are struck by
a teenage driver speeding in her car.
Now a young widow, Carrie assumes the responsibilities of a farm and a brother with hemophilia. Other household members include her older stepsister, Emma, who is looking for a husband, and Daniel’s cousin, Abel, who was recently released from prison in Ohio. To add to
Carrie’s problems, the deed to the farm is in Abel’s name and an unscrupulous land developer wants the Amish farms for a golf course. Carrie has never resolved her feelings for Sol and her choice of being Amish. Nine-year-old Andy is bullied by the English neighbors for having hemophilia. He is overly active, resulting in separate accidents of a broken arm and a cut heel requiring stitches and medical treatment. “Later, at the hospital, Carrie sat by Andy’s bedside in the emergency room as a long tube snaked from an IV bag into his vein, filling him with factor IX to help his blood clot. Mesmerized by the television hanging on the wall, Andy watched it, slack-jawed.” (p. 28).
Richard writes, “This romance novel illuminates the struggles of the Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch (Pennsylvania Dutch) to maintain their Plain folk lifestyle while coping with intrusions by the “English.” The characters usually speak English though they occasionally interject the Deitsch vernacular, followed by an English translation in italics to assist the reader. The rare case of a person with hemophilia marrying a carrier of hemophilia is accurately described and is possible due to the marriage patterns in this closed community. Other than the unexplained treatment in the hospital of using intravenous bags rather than syringes for factor IX infusions, the portrayal of having hemophilia is realistic, with treatment covered only by personal payment. The author, whose grandfather was raised Amish in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, lives with her family in San Francisco, California.”
We’re fortunate in that some HTCs, such as the Indiana Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, care for the Amish, and don’t use bags of plasma! The Amish are a true community: when there are extreme medical costs, the community rallies together to pay for the treatment without relying on hand-outs from the government. Difficult but highly admirable. A good read, which Richard recommends.

Suzanne Woods Fisher, 2010, The Choice. Grand Rapids, MI: Revell. 309 pages.

Leeches: A Treatment of Hemophilia

Laurie Kelley June 20, 2011

This is an amazing account sent to me by my colleague and the president of Hemophilia of North Carolina, Richard Atwood. Richard is a regular PEN contributor. This article is about…. leeches. Not for the faint of heart.

 

In 1839, Mr. R. Liston at University College Hospital in London, England reported on a case of hereditary hemorrhagic diathesis. His patient, S.P., was a 32-year-old farmer with temperate habits. He was a large man, strong and healthy, with a smooth, fair complexion, dark-grey eyes, dark hair, and sandy whiskers. S.P. reported having lost alarming quantities of blood from extraction of teeth; he was treated with pressure and cautery. At age 19, he had a small wart cut from his hip; he lost so much blood that he fainted and was debilitated for several days. The family history revealed that his maternal grandfather and 6 brothers were also affected with the same peculiarity of constitution.

In February 1839, S.P. fell and hurt his back and loins. Several days later he experienced sudden pain in his left groin, with pain in his left thigh down to his knee. A surgeon examined the subsequent swelling in the groin and ordered leeches. After 2 leeches were applied, the resulting hemorrhage could not be suppressed. The mass in the left groin was about the size of the patient’s fist, similar to a hernia. S.P. was admitted to University College Hospital on March 8, 1839. The abscess was opened with the potassa fusa resulting in slight bleeding. This blood was examined under microscope and found to be deficient of fibrine and in a bad state, containing a proportion of globules characteristic of pus. The patient was discharged… cured.

In 1840, David Burnes MD of Bloomsbury Square, in London, England reported on hemorrhagic diathesis in 3 brothers: 44-year-old William, 30-year-old Charles, and 25-year-old John. In addition, 2 maternal uncles had a tendency to bleed easily, while their mother, 4 sisters, and 3 other brothers, all over 20 years, did not develop this peculiarity.

In July, 1939, William was seized with inflammation of the testis. The usual remedies were ordered including 4 leeches to the scrotum. This treatment removed the disease, but blood continued to ooze from the leech-bites for several days to the point of debilitation. After spontaneous coagulation of the blood over the wounds, William improved much in about 28 days. He then pushed his hand through a pane of glass while opening the window and cut his thumb on the outer side. The free bleeding from the wound was temporarily arrested with adhesive straps until the inflammation of the hand required their removal. The subsequent freely oozing blood continued in spite of the use of styptics, pressure on the radial artery, and ligature. The irritable, greatly debilitated, and almost blanched patient was kept in bed and starved! The treatment of digitalis, ipecacuanha, and nitrate of potash was ordered, along with keeping the wound constantly wet with a lotion of spirit and muriate of ammonia. After a clot formed, the wound healed 24 days from the accident.

Charles, who had a slender frame and great muscular strength, presented in March 1837 for symptoms of enteritis. Charles stated that he and other family members bled easily and declined being bled from the arm. Instead, 6 leeches were applied over the pain on the left side of the umbilicus. This treatment instantly arrested his disease, but blood continued to ooze for 8 days from the leech wounds. After a vexatious confinement to bed caused more by the remedy than the disease, Charles recovered.

While out shooting in October 1827, John fell from his horse and sustained a severe injury to his arm. The day after his biceps were swollen and exceedingly inflamed and his forearm was bruised from elbow to wrist. An order was made for 12 leeches with bleeding encouraged by warm fomentations along with aperients and other medicines. The hemorrhage could not be stopped by pressure, alum, flour, or cobwebs, until nitras argenti was applied. John had constant oozing of blood over several days and subsequently died from loss of blood.

Dr. Burnes noted that hemorrhagic diathesis is hereditary and peculiar to males. He corroborated the opinion that hemorrhagic diathesis arose from a deficiency in the contractile power of the arteries, though he mentioned that the blood seemed less disposed to coagulate and appeared to be mixed with water.

And why leeches? Leeches were used for every kind of ailment during this time in medical history. They certainly didn’t stop bleeding; while attached, leeches secrete hirudin to prevent coagulation of the blood!

References:

Burnes D
1840 Haemorrhagic diathesis Lancet ii:404-406.
Liston R
1839 Haemorrhagic idiosyncrasy. Lancet i:137-8.

Great Book I Just Read
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough [Kindle edition]

The Johnstown Flood is usually a sidebar and two paragraphs in a high school history book. McCullough, our nation’s master storyteller of American history, makes this a page-turning, electrifying account of the Katrina of the 1880s. You will gasp and may cry while reading this. McCullough at once has given an accurate account, written like a novel, and serves as a memorial. The South Fork Dam served to create an aquatic playground for the super rich of Philadelphia, and despite warnings of the lack of an overflow drain, and various weak spots, nothing was done. Townspeople who lived below the dam often wondered and worried, but no one ever believed anything could possibly go wrong. Then it rained… like the Deluge. And the consequences were as dire. On May 31, 1889, the weakened, earth-made, South Fork Dam burst, and pounded and shredded everything in its path. Trees, dirt, horses, fences, barbed wire gathered like a wall of destruction, hell-bent for Johnstown, its denizens unaware of the horror about to be. Over 2,000 lost their lives in the most horrific ways; entire families of hard working people died. When it was over, grief turned to anger at the rich, at the paparazzi that came to gawk. This is a fascinating story, gut-wrenching and masterfully told. Read it. And take the time to read all the names at the end of those who died. Four stars.

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