A Remembrance of George A. Snook MD (1925-2017)

George A. Snook MD, an emeritus member of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons and an orthopaedic surgeon, died November 4, 2017. He was 92 years old.

George A. Snook (Photo courtesy of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine)

“There was no artifice,” Robert Leach MD, retired editor of the American Journal of Sports Medicine told Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®. “Straight out, if you asked a question, you got an answer. If you asked George to do something, he would say yes, and he would do it. That’s kind of a nice thing to have someone that you can depend upon who was pleasant to be around.”

Dr. Snook was born in 1925 in Boston, MA, USA [4]. Before becoming a physician, he served in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946, working as a surgical technician in the 165th General Hospital. He also volunteered to be a medic in the 45th Division during the invasion of Germany, for which he earned the Bronze Star and the Combat Medical Badge [4].

After the war, Dr. Snook resumed his studies, graduating with a Bachelor of Science from the University of New Hampshire in 1948 [4]. He earned his medical degree in 1952 from Tufts University, and then completed his orthopaedic surgery internship and residency at Boston Veterans Affairs Hospital, Boston City Hospital, and Lakeville Sanatorium [4].

In 1957, Dr. Snook joined Dr. O. Donald Chrisman at Hampshire Orthopedics in Massachusetts [4]. Together, the pair recommended the use of a neck collar for athletes who had sustained lateral flexion neck injuries [1]. They also devised an operation to repair recurrent ankle laxity, which became known as the Chrisman-Snook procedure [2, 10]. Dr. Leach used the operation several times during his career. In fact, two of Dr. Leach’s patients went to the Olympics after undergoing the Chrisman-Snook repair.

Although generally restrained in conversation, Dr. Snook could quickly become passionate about certain topics. In particular, college wrestling.

“His eyes would light up when he would talk about [wrestling],” said Dr. Leach, himself a former grappler at his alma mater, Princeton University.

In addition to his work with the University of Massachusetts, where he served as team physician from 1960 to 1992 [4], Dr. Snook was also team physician at Northampton High School, tournament physician for the New England University Wrestling Association, and was one of the team physicians for the 1972 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team [4], which brough home a total of six medals, including three golds.

Over the course of his long career, which included a stint as Chief of Orthopedics at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital and President of the Hospital Staff from 1983 to 1985 [1], Dr. Snook published many papers, including several on sports injuries in wrestlers, gymnasts, and long-distance runners [6-9]. In addition, he lectured about orthopaedics at the University of Connecticut Medical School, and he volunteered with Orthopedics Overseas during a 1970 trip to Afghanistan [4].

In one of his most important contributions to orthopaedics, Dr. Snook helped establish the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) in 1972. He was the society’s president from 1987 to 1988 [3], and he also served as chair of the AOSSM Publications Committee. Working with Sempo Takatsuki MD of Japan, Dr. Snook established the Asian portion of the Traveling Fellowship, a program which has now expanded to include the Pacific Rim countries [1].

In honor of his substantial contributions to sports medicine, in 2002, Dr. Snook was inducted into the AOSSM Hall of Fame, which is the society’s top honor [1].

Outside of medicine, Dr. Snook was also a historian, publishing 32 history papers and a monograph on medieval weaponry [4, 5]. In addition, he was a guest lecturer at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served 2 years as President of the Company of Military Historians beginning in 1987, he was Chair of The Advisory Committee of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Library, and he was a trustee of Historic Northampton, a museum and education center dedicated to preserving the history of Northampton, MA, USA [4]

Dr. Snook is survived by his wife, Lena Pillsbury Snook; his children: George Aaron Snook Jr, Robert Douglas Snook, and Barbara Pillsbury Snook; his grandchildren: Alexandra Elisa Snook, Erika Sachiko Takahashi, Matthew Nahum Takahashi, Alyssa Emily Snook, and Ainsley Elizabeth Snook; and his great-grandchild, Juniper Lee Way [4].