In memory of Seymour Furman: a Canadian and European perspective

Seymour (Sy) Furman was a challenging and dedicated teacher, a loyal mentor and guide, a colleague and friend throughout our respective professional lives. He was admired and respected both in Canada and in Europe and contributed greatly to our pacing community. The following are some individual reflections.I first met Sy in 1970 as a young staff surgeon at Toronto General Hospital. My chief Wilfred Bigelow (of pacemaker fame) asked me to ‘look after the pacemaker problem’ (unanticipated battery failure, runaway units, fractured leads, erratic follow-up). I had read about an organized pacemaker clinic at Montefiore Hospital and called Sy Furman who immediately invited me to the Bronx, NY, USA. I recall his enthusiasm and willingness to introduce me to the team, to demonstrate the workings of the clinic, the telephone monitoring system, and the data collection mechanism. I returned to Toronto to start a similar clinic with dramatic results in terms of patient safety.Sy had a need to participate and contribute to major meetings and he was both concerned and frustrated about not being involved enough in the organization of the Sixth World Symposium on Cardiac Pacing that was about to be held in Montreal, October 1979. Because I was working closely with Claude Meere, the chairman, Sy kept calling me to stay abreast of progress—he was ultimately most satisfied. He had a sincere desire to promote cardiac pacing and increase physician awareness and involvement. He invited David McGregor, Frank Tyers, and me to be the Canadian founding or original members of NASPE to ensure that this was indeed a truly North American effort, and this proved to be a great stimulus to cardiac pacing in Canada. His commitment to those of us in pacing was total and complete—he appointed me to the Editorial Board of the new …