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Until I meet you Tailwag, the best I can do is Prof. Fred Hollows, the well-known Australian eye doctor (among other attributes, including political activism and mountaineering).
I had quite a few contacts with Fred in conection with my work as a medical photographer here in Sydney, which was his homebase.
Fred thumbed his nose at red tape or any authority which hindered his pioneering work with Aborigines and the people of Eritrea and Nepal, among others. He was the sort of fellow you either loved or hated. The ‘stuffed shirts’ and beurocrats were generally in the the latter category.
He was a Kiwi, graduated from Otago University, and did a lot of early ophthalmology research work in the mining valleys of south Wales (UK). He was not content to just do a scientific study and move on. “No study without treatment” was the principle he adopted.
You couldn’t ignore Fred, with his gruff voice, casual dress, permanent pipe (which had worn a convenient grove in his front teeth), zest for life and an extensive knowledge of just about everything.
His biography is a good read. I think it’s just called ‘Fred’, by Peter Corris.
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