In 2009, the Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRA) became the major shareholder of The Journal of Rheumatology Publishing Company Limited, the main holding of which was The Journal of Rheumatology. The CRA made the decision to do this because The Journal was a much-valued publication with an international face, and it was and still is the full intention of the CRA to hold the course.
One of the greatest assets to this acquisition was the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Duncan Alexander Gordon. Duncan has been at the helm of The Journal since 1979, when he stepped in after the untimely death of The Journal’s founder, Dr. Metro Ogryzlo. The Journal has maintained its international flavor because Duncan knew everyone. Standing at his side at an international convention was like standing in the greeting line at a wedding. His editorial board stretched from Amsterdam to England, Germany, Italy, and France; from Mexico City and Brazil to Queensland, Australia; from Canada and the United States to Johannesburg, South Africa.
The editorials that Duncan commissioned were no less eclectic. He pushed authors to challenge the forgotten boundaries of clinical medicine. In 2012, The Journal sported discussions around health information on the Internet1, the tidemark of articular cartilage2, the death certificate in systemic lupus erythematosus3, and stem cell transplantation for systemic sclerosis4. He loved to use the editorial to create discussion. James Fries, Bonnie Bruce, and Stanford Shoor praised the role of exercise for osteoarthritis5 in response to Allan Gelber, who wasn’t so sure6.
Those of us who have known Duncan have loved him for his quirky genius. Duncan reported that you could diagnose amyloidosis7 and ochronosis8 from synovial fluid, and he produced one of the earliest complete patient series on the extraarticular manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis9. When he speaks, his thoughts seem to flow in free association, his shirt collar turned up, his tie akimbo. But his residents and colleagues soon learn that the façade is meant to disarm you. He knows exactly what he wants to convey. His thoughts are insightful. His papers are always in order, with red, blue and yellow markers, elastic bands, and colored paper clips. He knows where everything is. The staff at The Journal have loved and respected him.
Duncan was born in North Bay, Ontario. He went to medical school at the University of Toronto, and did his residency in medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. He did his postgraduate work with John Vaughan at the Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, before becoming a member of the staff at the Wellesley Hospital Rheumatic Disease Unit in Toronto. Duncan has held positions as the Division Head of Rheumatology at McMaster University and at the Toronto Western Hospital.
However, we have come to the end of an era. Duncan has decided to take his leave from The Journal, step down as Editor-in-Chief, and retire from the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His health has not been good, and he needs to concentrate on feeling better. It is with great affection that we thank Duncan for a lifetime of achievement.
And so we have turned our heads to the future, and are very pleased that Dr. Earl Silverman has accepted our offer to take on the position as Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Rheumatology. Earl is a Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology at the University of Toronto. He is a pediatric rheumatologist at the Hospital for Sick Children, where he has been awarded the Ho Family Chair in Autoimmune Diseases. Earl has been the author or coauthor of over 225 peer-reviewed papers, and has had a continuing interest in neonatal lupus and juvenile SLE. Most recently his grants have been focused on malignancy, cardiovascular damage, the relationship of genotype to phenotype, and efficacy of drugs in nephritis, all in pediatric SLE. Earl has been a valuable member of the Editorial Board of The Journal for many years. He has a reputation for critical thinking and an intimate knowledge of the world of research, both adult and pediatric. He takes on this new direction with enthusiasm and commitment, and the Board of Directors of The Journal is most pleased to welcome him.
