Dr. Marvin Platt

In 1959 I was a junior at CCNY majoring in bio chemistry. In my biology lab class, my lab partner and I were dissecting frogs. I asked him what he would give me if I ate a piece of the frog’s liver! He gave me a big smile and said I’ll give you a buck. A dollar went a long way in 1959, so with my forceps and scissors I cut out a piece of liver and swallowed it. My lab partner shook his head, turned to me, and from his left hip pocket of his uniform took out a black wallet and from it handed me a dollar. I carried that dollar bill through my senior year at CCNY, four years of medical school in Chicago, one year of internship in Brooklyn, two years in the US Navy, four years of postgraduate training in radiology, and finally radiology practice in New Jersey. I had forgotten about the dollar bill, when one morning in late 1987, upon leaving my house for the hospital, I picked up the New York Times and read who the new National Security advisor to the president of the United States was. I remember saying to myself, “so that’s what happened to Colin Powell, my lab partner!” Of course I looked in my wallet, but I never did find that dollar bill. I must’ve spent it.