A Classmate’s Contribution

In “A Drug’s Promise (or Not) of Youth,� Brian Alexander cites my old high school (class of ‘43) buddy, Danny Rudman (The Forever Young Issue, July 9). We shared many experiences: played baseball, basketball and football together; sat side by side in class; belonged to the same neighborhood boy’s club. Danny was the most brilliant person I ever met. He dedicated himself to medical research to help society. At our 50th high school reunion in 1993 (a year before he died), Danny presented a seminar on how senior citizens can contribute to society and live productive lives well into old age. We came from the same school in many respects.

Today, at age 79, I continue to be active in the engineering profession and I have a second career: poker. It is well that you included Danny’s admonition: “insisting . . . that any use of growth hormone for anti-aging was wildly premature.� His cautious advice should be heeded rather than the claims of people such as Dr. Edmund Chein--claims that are only too quickly accepted by people who are overly anxious to extend their lives.

George Epstein

Los Angeles