climber founder sports medicine - Hans Kraus

I just found the excellent biography of famous Gunks climber Hans Krauss.
JFK's Secret Doctor by Susan E.B. Schwartz (Skyhorse 2012)

The stories of his climbing and his partners are great, his medical career is amazing, his path to survive the geo-politics of Europe is rather interesting.

The medical insights and practice of Hans Krauss seem very modern. He discovered "core strength". More than that he founded modern Sports Medicine, especially "active recovery" and non-surgical intervention (which seems to need to keep getting re-discovered). He was nationally famous (together with another Gunks climber) for promoting a new preventive healthcare strategy for the U.S. nation (which generated strong opposition). He authored a book which sold a million copies.

Climbing ... He is famous for bold leads in the Gunks of New York, notably High Exposure (with no knowledge, and much less pro than nowadays).

I was very interested in the role of free soloing in his life.

The parts about he healed the injured back of U.S. President John F Kennedy are plenty interesting. Kraus also answered the President's question about how climbing was done, by performing the first ascent of the West wall of the White House.

Some more stories and impressions about Hans Krauss?

Ken

Interesting read. Kraus' ideas about the value of physical activity in everyday life were quite a few years ahead of his time, and he saw the obesity epidemic coming well before it really became news.