How well do you know our University’s namesake?
Here's a video about Dr. Bastyr:
And 10 facts you may not have known about Dr. Bastyr:
- His mother was a gardener and herbalist, and his father was a pharmacist
- He built his own house in Kent, even felling some of the trees on the property himself
- He and his wife maintained a four-acre farm with a garden, orchard, goats, ducks, geese, cats, dogs and bees
- He played the fiddle and loved to sing
- He delivered babies underwater and encouraged mothers to breastfeed at a time when mainstream society frowned upon it
- He once said that if he could choose only one therapy, it would be his hands
- He stated that if he hadn’t become a doctor, he would have gone to seminary at St. Edward’s
- He had a tremendous memory, reciting passages from books and recalling patients’ names, addresses and treatments years later
- At times, his private practice was so busy he wouldn’t go home to sleep; He’d stand in a corner of his office and doze upright in between appointments and calls to births
- He cared for patients day and night, regardless of their ability to pay
