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eLetters: A Very Grand Thing
In response to: Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne

Michael C. Owens
Email: greenwapiti@hotmail.com
Affiliation: None
Posted on: February 19, 2001


Having a B.A. in Language, Culture & Society (privately funded), I found this article to be both humorous and, generally, an excellent use of language. Further, basing the article on the cultural connection shared by those who are familiar with the community of the Hundred Acre Wood was a powerful foil and evocative for many readers.

Bringing a portion of the medical and lay communities to examine anew our assumptions about Pooh and his friends through the lens of psychiatric diagnosis was refreshing and enjoyable, too! Two comments: If I remember clearly at all past midnight, Pooh was, in the first instance, 'Winne ther Pooh' and, frequently, 'Pooh Bear.' Perhaps this necessitates a re-evaluation of any diagnosis not based upon the multiple names and name changes Pooh has experienced (or been subject to). Also, while I'm not a thorough student of All Things Pooh, I am familiar with the 'The Tao of Pooh' and 'The Te of Piglet' the first of which is perhaps what one response described as the 'Zen of Pooh.'

Whether there are better indications of organic, mental or social disorders in the the Hundred Acre Wood is beyond my diagnostic abilities, but I applaud the temerity of the authors and this journal for making this assay (er, essay?) into the nexus of medicine, linguistics and humor. All in all, a Very Grand Thing.

 

 

Copyright 2001 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors