A keen wit and sense of humor, anchored in a firm handshake, made for a memorable encounter. If he could coax patients into laughter, he knew their cure was imminent. Many folks came away, cured instantly, realizing they were never sick at all. Others found relief from legitimate pain and suffering under the knowledgeable care of McDuffie. He was a man who sincerely loved people, and it showed. That has proven to be the ultimate bedside manner.
He made his house calls in a T-Model Ford when the red-clay roads of Upper Moore were atrocious. He inspired generations of young and old alike. His wisecracking nature was discreetly woven into a casual persona.
“Old John must have recovered, seeing as how he forgot to pay me,” he might say.
He knew what riled a fellow and used it to gauge his progress.
“If you can make a man mad, he is well on his way to recovery,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of folks mad, but I always helped them get over it.” Laughter had again proven itself the best medicine around.
Eli Ritter recalls his earliest encounters with Dr. McDuffie.
“I was just a little fellow when Dr. McDuffie came to our house to tend to one of the children,” he says. “I was accustomed to smoking ‘rabbit tobacco’ from a corncob pipe. The aroma from Dr. McDuffie’s pipe proved irresistible. Before examining his patient, he laid his pipe on a nearby table. I seized the opportunity, inching closer and closer. When I thought he was looking the other way, I snatched it up for a curious puff. That was the best tobacco I ever tasted, before or since. I continued to pick it up and lay it down, seemingly behind his back. He had to have noticed the billows of smoke rising around my head. Daddy witnessed my behavior out of the corner of one eye. He chose not to intervene.
“The next week the good doctor stopped to check on his patient. Daddy watched him through the window. Before entering the house, he dallied in the yard long enough to stuff his pipe with fresh tobacco and ensure that it was properly lit. He entered our home and again laid his pipe on the table. He knew I was watching his every move but kept his back to me the entire time. I have since thought about that many times. He was an inspiration to two people I know; his patient, who made a full recovery, and me, for whom there is still no hope.”
McDuffie died in 1961.
Lacy A. Garner Jr. is a history buff. He thanks Eli Ritter and Thurman Maness for their personal insight into the character of Dr. McDuffie.
