I was 13 years-old when I first saw Dr. Cooper in a consultation for dystonia musculoram deformans in 1967. I was sitting on a couch in the anteroom to his office, expecting to be ushered in at any moment. Instead, the door opened and Dr. Cooper walked up to and sat down next to me. He talked to me as if I was his partner and the only person who mattered. There wasn't the slightest hint of the condescension, arrogance or dismissiveness to which I had grown accustomed. At that instant I realized he was a maverick and a truly outstanding human being. Twice he told my parents that I and I alone would decide if and when to undergo his "vital probe." In the operating room, I was totally awake. In the middle of the procedure, I asked him if he "was in thalamus yet." He said that I was the first of thousands to ask him that. The last time I saw him, he was in his office with his feet stretched over his desk and his hands clasped behind his head. His surgical pants had a hole in them showing his boxer shorts. At one point, he said he'd soon go to Washington D.C. for a conference. As he said this, he had a slight impish look on his face, his eyes darted toward the ceiling and I think he even stuck his tongue in his cheek. My Mother started laughing and asked him if he was going to operate on the president (it had just been disclosed that President LBJ had previously and secretly had an operation on his gall bladder). As did Dr. Copper, I read much and widely. The Vital Probe is one of the most powerful books I've ever read - bias admitted. It should be required reading for all medical students regardless of what area of medicine they pursue. If Dr. Cooper hadn't discovered and developed his operation or if he had caved to the tremendous, unscientific and downright cruel opposition by so many prominent members of the American neuro-science community, I'd long be institutionalized or dead. I've been a practicing and successful attorney for more than 30 years. But the greatest gift Dr. Cooper gave me was the gift of a positive attitude. I give The Vital Probe my highest recommendation