We are saddened by the passing in June 2023 of Dr. Martin A. Samuels at age 77 years. Marty made an indelible mark on Neurology through contributions to the field and, because of his personal and professional range, was perhaps the most recognizable neurologist in America. He was a remarkable man in many respects, but none so much as a friend who would extend himself for everyone in his orbit.
Dr. Samuels was born in Cleveland and attended Cleveland Heights High School. He received a BA in biology from Williams College, where he was elected as a class speaker and received his MD from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. The medical school later awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science. He was an Eph (Williams alum) for life. The college had the most profound and lasting impact on his life than any other educational experience.
Marty became highly sought after as an insightful and engaging speaker at Harvard and innumerable other medical schools. His emphasis was always on the humanity and fulfilling aspects of medicine and his stalwart resistance to outside forces that threatened to suppress the profession as a calling. This made him outspoken about values he held dear, for which he was greatly appreciated by stating what everyone knew about the foibles of academic medicine but were reluctant to say.
As he established his skill as a teacher of Neurology across the continuum of undergraduate, resident, and seasoned professionals, he developed an intimate style that connected with audiences by understanding their needs and presenting complex material in refreshing and comprehensible ways. He almost single-handedly represented Neurology to general physicians through decades of standing room-only lectures at the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians and other non-neurologic societies, and lay audiences as well as the American Academy of Neurology. Marty produced, with his wife the medical publisher Susan F. Pioli, a magnificent video series on 10 clinical areas in Neurology, where his love for the subject and respect for his audience were amply demonstrated. Among his most iconic lectures was on the seemingly vague problem of dizziness that no one wanted to own, but his talks gave confidence that listeners could grapple with the clinical syndrome.
Marty's genius can be understood in context of the tension he experienced as Neurology was separating itself from Internal Medicine. Until about 1975, most trainees entering Neurology were fully trained in Internal Medicine. Marty interrupted his Neurology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital to serve as a chief resident in Medicine at Boston City Hospital. He became an interface between Internal Medicine and Neurology, retaining the traditional virtues of the well-rounded and well-educated physician. This allowed him to study and teach topics that seemed to float between the 2 fields—B-12 deficiency and its odd manifestations, hepatic encephalopathy, neurocardiology, “Voodoo death,” and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Rare among academic and nonacademic physicians was his willingness to talk about learning from clinical cognitive mistakes, something that he addressed in an always sought-after lecture.
Marty's interests immersed him in medical history, and his delight was evident in informing residency applicants on tour at the Brigham that they were standing on the site of Harvey Cushing's operating room or adjacent to Murray's first successful kidney transplant. His gratitude to predecessors was reflected in a commitment to transgenerational teaching and an appreciation for lineage. His stories displayed Marty in full bloom and made contact with him memorable decades later. Although pedigree was of little importance, the personal history mattered greatly and he honored his parents by asking that his Harvard Chair be named for his mother, Miriam Sydney Joseph, now the Samuels Professorship at Harvard. He regularly credited his mentors from Massachusetts General Hospital, Raymond Adams, C. Miller Fisher, and E. P. Richardson as well as Dame Sheila Sherlock, with greatly influencing him during an extensive rotation in hepatology in the UK.
“Generous” would not begin to acknowledge the many times Marty helped people with professional needs. Never rushed, always thoughtful, he directed or redirected the careers of countless individuals who have never forgotten his advice at critical moments in their lives. He arranged things quietly in the background but could be masterful in political astuteness and persuasion based on established trust and personal connections in the pursuit of assisting others. These attributes allowed him to establish the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital from what had been a Division of Medicine.
A partial list of publications includes Samuels's Manual of Neurologic Therapeutics, Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology, Office Practice of Neurology, Hospitalist Neurology, and chapters in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. I leave his extensive list of honors and recognitions to others because they do not capture the man and the Neurologist. Some people, Marty, are actually not replaceable.