By Dan
As noted in the last post, we arrived in Haines on the morning of 8/20. Through our Servas connection (see Nina’s Haines/Klukwan post, which reveals the reason for this whole escapade), we’d gotten connected with folks from the all-volunteer Hospice of Haines, and arranged to meet with them, since Dan is so involved with end-of-life issues. We had a wonderful meeting with Shannon McPhetres, who is the volunteer coordinator for the organization. Nina and I shared experiences and ideas with her, about public education, about training of volunteers, and so on. This hospice is unusual in that it provides personal support services but not medical care. The town has no hospital, but does have 3-4 doctors, some of whom come just for short stints. You might be interested in reading Heather Lende’s book, “If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name,” to get a sense of Haines life. (Thanks, cousin Risë, for sending us the book.) Heather wrote for the local weekly paper, including the obituary column. The beautiful sign here is outside the building where the hospice has its office.
After our meeting, Nina and I both nosed around the town a bit before dinner, including the unique “Hammer Museum” (thanks for the tip, Fred), which owns over 7000 hammers of all sizes, shapes, and purposes. (They only have room to display about 2000.)
Here’s the giant hammer (20 feet high) outside the building, and then some shots from inside. The whole project is the obsession of an individual from Haines.
But what especially grabbed my attention was the item below, labeled “Berliner Hammer: Reflex hammer developed in 1910 by German neurologist Bernhard Berliner.”
We have a relative (great-uncle of my late wife) of the same name, who was, indeed, a neurologist, and would have been about 25 in 1910. I’ve been in touch with his daughter, Gabie, who did not know of any such invention by her father, but it seems unlikely that there were two neurologists of the same name. Gabie is investigating further. FLASH UPDATE: Gabie has just emailed me to say that her son (also Dan) has confirmed that Gabie’s father is, indeed, “the one who invented (or more correctly advanced) the reflex hammer).”
Fendels in Alaska 