In Memoriam, Dr. Benjamin Spock 1903-1998

By Sharon Lin

Born in New Haven on May 2, 1903, Spock is best known for his 1946 child-care guide, Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, the best-selling book in the world after the Bible. Spock published 12 books, including Caring for Your Disabled Child and A Teenager's Guide to Life and Love.

One of Spock's lesser-known achievements is his Olympic gold medal. Spock prepped at Andover, where he starred on the track team. He returned to New Haven, living at home during his first year at Yale. Spock became a campus figure when James Stillman Rockefeller, Class of 1924, spotted the 6'4" freshman and asked him to row. In 1924, Yale's heavyweight varsity eight, with Spock in seven seat, sailed to Paris and won an Olympic gold medal, setting a world record of 5:51 over a 2,000-meter course on the Seine River. Spock continued to scull throughout his long life. After graduating from Yale with a degree in English, Spock attended Yale Medical School for two years, then received an M.D. from Columbia in 1929. Despite the Depression, Spock built a modest pediatric practice with his caring and sensible bedside manner.

Julia Tiernan/YH

Unlike earlier baby experts, he suggested loving care instead of a disciplinarian approach, although Spock admitted that he had not always practiced what he preached with his own sons. Instead, he repeated the stern upbringing of his parents, attorney Benjamin Ives and Mildred Stoughton Spock. Nevertheless, Spock had a huge impact on the way that most of the Baby Boom generation was raised. He marched alongside "his" kids to protest the Vietnam War and nuclear proliferation. In 1968, a Boston court convicted Spock of conspiracy to aid and abet draft dodging and sentenced him to two years in prison. The decision was overruled, but Spock was arrested several more times at the Pentagon and the White House for protesting American defense policies. In 1972, he ran for President with the People's Party, receiving about 80,000 votes. Towards the end of his life, Spock became interested in macrobiotic diets, yoga, and meditation.

Benjamin Spock is survived by his second wife of 22 years, Mary Morgan, and Michael and John, the sons from his marriage to the late Jane Cheney.

Photo courtesy of Yale University Archives.

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