Me, Myself & Eyes: Life Stories of an Eyeball Mechanic

About the highest compliment a Kentuckian can pay another person is to say, He (or she) never forgot where they came from. That's the reason Dr. William J. Collis decided to write this book. He never forgot his early years in Winchester, Ky., where his Greek immigrant parents raised their children in an apartment above the family restaurant. Humble beginnings, for sure, and yet those days in the 1940s and '50s shaped the values of a man who was to become well recognized and honored in the field of ophthalmology. Dr. Collis is an eye doctor, but not an "I" doctor. As readers of this book will discover, he pays scant attention to such professional accomplishments as founding the Kentucky Eye Institute and pioneering several new concepts in his field. He would rather tell you about his family, friends, and former patients. Or about his love of basketball and bridge. Or about the practical jokes that he and his cast of characters have played on each other along the way. Some of the stories will make you laugh, others will make you cry, and most will reveal something about this curious thing known as human nature. Some of the most poignant parts of the book are when Dr. Collis writes about his wife, Connie, whom he still adores after more than 50 years of marriage. Their adventures together included two trips to Greece, where Bill brought the gift of improved eyesight to the poor villagers in both his parents' home towns. After getting his bachelor's and medical degrees in Kentucky, Bill honed his skills in the metropolitan medical centers of Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. He could have practiced anywhere, but he and Connie finally decided to return to Kentucky and give back to Bill's native state. He became friends with such distinguished Kentuckians as William T. Young Sr., the famed businessman and philanthropist, and Cliff Hagan, one of Kentucky's all-time great basketball icons. They are among the characters you will meet along the way. So, in the end, Dr. Collis proved the author Thomas Wolfe wrong. You can go home again you just have to be the sort who never forgot where he came from.