(Introduction-Purpose- Audience)

When you approach a story, no matter how sensationnel is seems on the surface, the more you explore its ramifications, the twists it takes, and the bends it makes, the more you come to appreciate and understand the larger picture. This is truly how the story of Dr. Max Jacobson uncovers an individual who, in fundamental ways, changed many events in American history. Dr Feelgood, written by film historian Richard Lertzman along with William Birnes, is a biography on Max Jacobson, a misguided German doctor who impacted many international events.  I recommend this book to readers 14 and up. This book is astonishing, complex and diverse.  As Oxford pharmacologist, Leslie Iverson said, “The debate continues as to whether Jacobson was a fraud and a charlatan or a cutting-edge and compassionate physician. “

(Events)

It was fall of 1960, when democratic candidate John Fitzgerald Kennedy first walked through the door of Max Jacobson's East 72nd Street office in Manhattan. What was Kennedy’s medical complaint?  Everything. The stress of the campaign and his previous health issues were taking effect. Dr. Max already knew what to do.  Jacobson had said the treatment of stress was his specialty. Given Kennedy’s many medical conditions, he undoubtedly knew that the injection of the powerful stimulants in his vitamin shots could be dangerous, but he was certainly willing to take the risk. Kennedy eagerly agreed as he was desperate and in need of anything that could help him withstand his pain and give him back his strength. As JFK said himself,``Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."  Little did he know, his actions went on to destroy his life. As Truman Capote put it,“It only took one extraordinary high, followed by an equally extraordinary crash, and the patient would be back for more magical elixir under Jacobson’s control”. Control was the key, and Jacobson certainly knew how to exert it.

Then, just a few months after his inauguration, the young president, now completely addicted to Jacobson’s medication, was presented with another tough test: the Vienna Summit with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. As much as he was in no shape to attend the Summit, this was an event Kennedy couldn’t miss;as it would not only put him in a terrible position as President, but also reveal to the public Kennedy’s many health issues. Due to Krushchev arriving late and Kennedy’s physical reaction to stress, Jacobson was forced to give the President 2 risky injections in addition to the morning dose. With only minutes left to spare, Jacobson immediately shot a dose up his neck, so it could take effect quickly. Had he not done that, the world would be different now.

In this book you’ll also read about other prominent figures like Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mantle, Robert Cummings and many other people who all fell in the same hole and never found their way out.

(Interesting Facts)

Here are a few interesting facts. Miracle Max’s magical elixir was made of 28mg of methamphetamines (Highly addictive), monkey gonads, sheep sperm, human placenta, steroids and vitamin E.

Dr Feelgood was a code name for Max under President Kennedy’s secret service. They called him under the name Mrs Dunn , code name for Kennedy.

Max tested a variety of drugs on himself and his close friends, to which he overdosed and killed his own wife, Nina.

During the Vienna Summit with Nikita Krushchev, Jacobson overdosed the President with 3 extra shots. After Jacobson flew back to New York, Kennedy was so high that he walked through the hallways of his hotel naked. 

(5 text features and Book Credibility)

The text features in this book make the events more realistic. Found in this book is a table of contents, pictures of Jacobson with his patients, signed prescriptions and documents, a list of patients that visited Dr. Max, bibliography, an index and the list of interviews used for this book.

All of the listed are reliable and credible, and the information and interviews acquired comes directly in-person from the former patients of Max Jaboson, their friends and family, Max Jacobson’s family and friends, and investigation papers and records from his office,CIA and New York's Bureau for Narcotics Enforcement. 

(Creative Outlet on Amphetamines)

As Dr. Jacobson focused his research on amphetamines, I will explain the history and use of amphetamines and methamphetamines. As Jacobson found, amphetamines are drugs that stimulate joy and delight. Some say they are a wonder drug. Others call it a gateway drug. Either way, they can be harmful if not monitored, but far less lethal than it’s sister drug, methamphetamines. Methamphetamines are a type of psycho- stimulant drug.  It’s molecules are very similar in both size and shape to the neurotransmitter dopamine, the pleasure-sensing neurotransmitter. This can fool the brain’s neurons into treating it like dopamine. The more dopamine present, the greater and longer-lasting the pleasure will be. In other words, methamphetamines make you feel really good. However, that feeling is followed by severe depression, delusion, mental breakdowns and in a worst case scenario; logical perception. It can also raise blood pressure, increase heart rate and even cause a heart attack. The most distinctive part of this drug? It’s highly addictive. Moral of the story.

(Review)

Before reading anything that relates to Dr, Max Jacobson, I certainly could not imagine anyone making such an impact to the world both politically and commercially, not mentioning one individual doctor to do so. I  most definitely do not have credible medical knowledge, but I have quite an apprehension on World history, specifically American events and political occurrences. After a conscientious read of many books about JFK, I  came across many references around a mysterious doctor who greatly impacted his health. As little information as they wrote about him, JfK’s reliance on Dr. Feelgood and his vitamin shots became so obvious that he had basically lost his senses. As this issue was progressing, the whole white house turned their heads at Jacobson and put him under close radar of the CIA. From then on, Jacobson had lost his purpose in life; he lost many patients, burned all his papers after Kennedy was assassinated, lost his license after being searched by police and drug departments and was exposed in a Times article where he was publicly embarrassed. As much as we’ve learned and explored from after his death in 1972, no matter what investigators  dig back and find, we’ll never really know what Max Jacobson shot into 138 celebrity lives, 3 world leaders and 4 American Presidents.

THE END

On August 15, 1925, Oscar Peterson was born in Montreal, Quebec, fourth of five children in the family (King 2013). His father Daniel, a porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway, was an amateur organist who led family bands at church and was strict that all the Peterson children learned piano or some other brass instrument. Oscar grew up in Little Burgundy in a mostly black community where he encountered jazz music and culture at a young age and began playing the trumpet and piano when he was only 5 (King 2013). But when he was only 7 years old, he got tuberculosis which prevented him from ever playing the trumpet again. He then began to direct all his attention to piano, studying with pianist Paul de Marky, a student of Istvan Thomas, who was a pupil of Franz Liszt, one of the greatest pianists of all time (King 2013).

His career and recognition grew when he began to be heard nationally on his own weekly piano radio show on the Montreal station CKAC, and other radio stations (King 2013). Though he came from a strong classical music background, he was influenced by his longtime idol Art Tatum to pursue a future in jazz. His talent was seen by bands in the US, who offered him positions in bands, but he wasn’t allowed because his parents deemed him too young (King 2013). He made 32 songs for RCA Victor between 1945 and 1949, most notably “I Got Rhythm” and “The Sheik of Araby'', where people started to recognize his amazing technique in boogie-woogie. In 1953, Peterson formed a trio with Brown and Irving Ashby (formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio), Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis. The Peterson-Brown-Ellis trio was known as the best piano-bass-guitar trio of all time (King 2013). With his fame slowly growing and albums becoming commercial successes, he toured around the world and collaborated with many famous artists. By the mid-1970s, Oscar had achieved high levels of success and recognition in the music industry. He already had four Grammy-Award winning albums in 1973, two in 1974, and 1977 (King 2013). However his arthritis became severe, and his touring schedule was greatly reduced.

In 1990, he returned with the Brown-Ellis trio, producing several albums which won three Grammy Awards (King 2013). By 1993, he had gotten a hip replacement surgery, and was well respected as Canada’s first jazz star. But only a couple months after surgery, he suffered a stroke which limited his left side movement (King 2013). Taking a two year recovery, he returned to tour and perform even with his damaged left side. In 2002, Oscar published his memoir, A Jazz Odyssey: The Life of Oscar Peterson (King 2013). By 2007, his health began to greatly decline, suffering with his weight hindering his mobility, his smoking habits and long term arthritis. He canceled plans to perform at a tribute concert given in his honour. Oscar Peterson passed away on December 23, 2007 of kidney failure in his home in Mississauga, Ontario ((King 2013).

Works cited: 

Betty Nygaard King’s article “Oscar Peterson”, TheCanadianEncyclopedia.ca September 3, 2013 

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/oscar-peterson

Richard Severo “Oscar Peterson, 82, Jazz’s Piano Virtuoso, Dies” The New York Times Dec. 25, 2007

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/arts/25peterson.html

https://canadianmusichalloffame.ca/inductee/oscar-peterson/

In the world today, history is very important. It may not affect everything like Math or English, but it is equally important in society. History can give you a general perspective, a respected career, the skill of influencing somebody’s opinion and deeper knowledge.

History is very important because it often gives us different insights or perspectives. It helps us develop a better understanding of the world. 

History paints a detailed picture of society during different times so that we can better understand how it works now. It determines our mistakes and solutions to approach in the future. It helps us understand ourselves and others more clearly and broadly. History tells us the story of everything and how our world came to be. This develops a sense of self and it encourages us to develop a greater appreciation towards diverse and multicultural influences in our communities.

Secondly, History is also very important socially in society. Careers based on history are much respected and are very broad. This often provides the space to shine new light, for more opportunities to study the pass and explore the future. History provides a different experience at work, even without being a veteran in the area, you have a greater sense of the world and society. Working in the area of History develops many skills – research, interpreting a bigger context, and communication of complex issues. It also develops pivotal skills as history is studying the world’s change.

History is also very influential to today's world. It is the pivot of the world’s problems and solutions. Understanding or having a wide history context is very informative. It provides the opportunity that others may not have, like being able to influence another person using historical contents and political situations to sway their opinion. The influence of history is the amount of change and difference that have occurred over the years. In many ways, people try to look into the future and make the world more advanced; and that is important too. However the truth is, the only way to solve more problems is to take a step back to reflect and take the others' lessons learned and make sure problematic history doesn’t repeat itself. When going back to reflect on the history and the lessons learned from centuries of events, it helps the world understand and compare current situations to those in other historic contexts, and ultimately use our past mistakes to fix the new ones.

Lastly, historical significance is the base and context of our knowledge of the world. It creates a sophisticated society that is less opinionated and a community that is knowledgeable not pompous. It helps us create common ground to compare different events and even help others have a broad knowledge or view of society.

History is the pivot to help the world become a better place. Even though we can’t change what has happened or has already happened, we learn from the past to create the Future.

34 years ago, millions of television viewers were horrified to witness the live broadcast of the space shuttle Challenger tearing apart into a massive fireball 73 seconds into flight, ending the lives of the seven astronauts on board. Then, just 17 years later, the world witnessed yet again another fatal accident, this time on Space Shuttle Columbia. People watched as Columbia exploded while re-entering Earth’s surface, pieces flying everywhere and killing another seven astronauts on board. Such fatal accidents shouldn’t be made at an astronomical level like NASA, so why and how are these mistakes happening?

At 11:38 AM Eastern Time on January 28, 1986, Challenger lifted off from the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with seven crew on board- including a civilian teacher named Christa McAuliffe. 73 seconds into flight, Challenger broke apart. The cabin landed in the Atlantic Ocean about 2 minutes later with more than enough force to crush everything inside. We know that if it had been up to the Engineers and The safety mission control administrators, The Challenger would have never launched on that day. Before, the coldest a shuttle had launched was at 10.5 Degrees Celsius. But on January 28th, it was more like 2 degrees Celsius. Many engineers had already discussed this problem. They knew that colder weather was a problem for the O-rings, the rubber seals that hold together the Solid Rocket Boosters. When it got too cold, the rubber wasn’t flexible, which caused the fuel to leak. However, they already warned management about the danger, and at least one engineer refused to sign off the launch. But NASA went ahead with it anyway, which took the life of seven people.

NASA grounded shuttles for a few years, fixing the O-rings. They also spent years changing policies, and enhancing the management structure in hopes that they would never ignore a warning against launch again. Those changes seemed to have helped, until 17 years later.

Then the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded. Seven astronauts launched at 10:39 Am on January 16, 2003, but made it to space just fine. There was initial concern, because it looked as if a piece of foam insulation from the external fuel tank had broken off. But no one knew of any damage on Columbia. Many engineers worried, but the mission went ahead as usual. Then came February 1st, the day Columbia was supposed to land. As it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, the crew lost all sensor’s from the left wing. Then, NASA lost contact with the crew. It turns out, the foam had punctured a hole in the left wing. During re-entry, extremely hot atmospheric gas pushed through into the damaged wing, destroying the sensors then blowing up the ship.

NASA’s investigation revealed that the two fatal accidents that killed 14 people, were based on the same problem, ignorance during Management. Challenger suffered its fate because of NASA ignoring the engineer’s warning about launching. And similarly for Columbia, engineers had requested imaging for the left wing, after being hit by the foam, to review if it was safe for re-entry. However, NASA official Linda Hamm had blocked and ignored all warnings and requests, demanding for the mission to go forward. This was for her contract for the next shuttle, Atlantis, which would be launched as soon as possible if there were no mistakes. Yes, there were other contributions to this accident, however, her self-centered act might have been the major cause of Columbia’s fatality.

After Columbia, only one space shuttle, Atlantis, had lifted off. NASA ended the 30 year Space shuttle program, stating that they were only experimental. However, The Space Shuttle Program has enabled us to conduct hundreds of scientific experiments. And every time we send astronauts into space, we travel with the lessons that we learned from Challenger, Columbia and the 14 people who died flying it.