Other Than Editing by Rita M Washko

For Lowell , the history was in Lowell Goldsmith: place—a family in which his father and grandfather were both in the jewelry busi- Editor and ness—and so was a fundamental technical training from Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn, New York. So it was no surprise when he, too, gravitated to the art of jewelry-making and - ing. Goldsmith is a 67-year-old professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, editor of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, and past president of the Society for Investigative Dermatology. He has a career encompassing basic science, clinical medi- cine, university administrative positions . . . and outside interests that embrace a quest to learn about new things and hone his artistic skills. of Medicine and Dentistry. While in Goldsmith grew up in Brooklyn, where Rochester, Goldsmith was head of the his grandfather had a jewelry and internal-medicine department for 2 years store and his father was a and then dean of the medical school for who later became a dentist. After getting 5 years. a humanities degree at Columbia College Before returning to the South in 2002, and a medical degree at State University Goldsmith completed a master’s degree of New York Downstate Medical Center in public health at the University of in Brooklyn, Goldsmith trained in internal Rochester. Once back in North Carolina, medicine at the University of California, having changed his affiliation to the Los Angeles (UCLA). He then served a 2- University of North Carolina, 10 miles year stint with the Public Health Service in from Duke, he became editor of the Journal Bethesda, Maryland, where he worked on of Investigative Dermatology, a basic-science cytogenetics and the biochemical genetics journal that focuses on cutaneous biology of alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes. and the mechanisms of skin diseases. The At that point, he decided he could journal, which began in 1938, is published best bring his interests and experience monthly and “has a number 1 impact fac- together in a research-oriented derma- tor”, said Goldsmith. tology program. He then completed a It was after his return to North dermatology residency at Harvard and Carolina that his metalsmithing hobby ultimately worked in epidermal bio- materialized. When Goldsmith initially chemistry and molecular biology at Duke looked around his community, he noted Medical School in North Carolina from that “all these people had neat hobbies”, 1973 through 1981. During that period, and so he decided to do something about Goldsmith had several research grants this. He found a course in metalwork- from the National Institutes of Health ing at a small museum in Chapel Hill and discovered an inherited disease of and then participated in a 3-day met- liver metabolism (tyrosemia type II) that alsmithing and jewelry workshop at the was correctable by diet. He spent a year Campbell School in Brasstown, North at Oxford University working in one of Carolina. And then he made his first the first laboratories dating monoclonal piece of jewelry. antibodies, returned to Duke University “He made himself a that he wore for a short period, and then headed north to the office, a ring with a black to the University of Rochester School stone”, said the journal’s managing edi-

204 • Science Editor • November – December 2005 • Vol 28 • No 6 Other Than Editing continued tor, Elizabeth Blalock. It was “stunning”, Symbols that capture a larger picture, and all the office staff noticed it, Blalock such as that of a culture or a spirituality, recalled. are important to Goldsmith. He professes The ring was made of silver and adorned to “love Jewish art and Jewish ”. with and silver rope, Goldsmith said. One art piece that reflects his admiration His next project was a silver fibular pin for of Jewish spirituality is a spice box that he his wife. Then he took more classes—this created. In a ceremony at the end of the time a 10-week evening course in jew- Jewish sabbath, a spice box is passed from elry-making and metalsmithing at Duke person to person, Goldsmith explained. University. With his interest in the hobby The box has a lid so that various spices can continually increasing, Goldsmith the be placed inside; it has openings so that the silversmith decided it was time to build a aromas can escape; and it typically has a hobby room in his home, so he created a flag on it to note the fact that spices came work area where he could cut, , grind, from countries around the world. His spice and polish his creations in a 200-- box, a 3-inch by 2-inch creation made of foot upstairs room, firewall and all. silver, has cutouts—openings—that are Goldsmith prefers to work with silver the Hebrew letters for spice and representa- although he uses NuGold, a product, tions of nutmegs and cloves. for his prototypes. Recently, he has started For Goldsmith, the world around him working with dichroic glass, a material serves as a never-ending source of possi- made of thin layers of oxides that bilities for his art work. “I look for designs both reflects and refracts light. Another around me”, he said. “The hardest part of material he has taken a liking to is pre- the art is the design”, he said, although cious-, a combination of finely “the technical part is challenging.” And ground silver and clay-like material that, when he comes up against a challenge, when heated, produces a product that he has many books, catalogs, and Google is malleable like clay but is 99% silver. images that he can consult. Also, there are “Because of my science background, I’m instructors and other courses he can turn interested in new materials”, Goldsmith to for answers. But, when it comes to a said. “reality check”, the best source is his wife, While developing his artistic skills, said Goldsmith. Goldsmith created his personal “signa- While working through some ideas for ture”, what he calls his “nature symbol”. unique candlesticks, he ran a particular The symbol appears on many of his art possibility by his wife. She then put it into pieces and consists of horns on the upper perspective. “But the candles will drip all side, fronds of a plant on the bottom por- over them”, she told him. “Who is going tion, and the Hebrew letter shin[ ], which to clean them?” At that point, Goldsmith is part of the word for “name” and refers knew that it was time to get back to the to G-d (these pieces can be viewed at board. www.-silversmith.com). The sym- Goldsmith’s jewelry creations have bol thus includes “animal, vegetable, and thus far been given as gifts. Just before spiritual elements”, Goldsmith said. Christmas, he presented two editorial Blalock commented that her boss “works assistants from his office with a silver pin in big concepts, both in his research inter- in the form of his “nature symbol” and a ests and in the way he looks at life, and he NuGold cup that serves as a clip can connect these things with something container. The managing editor received a tangible”. For example, Goldsmith chose silver that had his nature symbol. a picture of an Inuit direction marker He has also made jewelry for his wife and (inukshuk) to accompany an article on his family. And Goldsmith has made a research milestones, having been moved piece as a special request—a pendant for a by its meaning as a compass in life, Blalock friend who wanted a special gift for his wife said. on Valentine’s Day.

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The pendant was oval with silver on Goldsmith views his professional top and NuGold on the bottom. Two activities and his hobby as hearts—one that was a cutout and the “complementary” parts of his life although other a pasted-on NuGold heart—adorned he quipped that “my journal and my day the center of the piece. The gift was so well job interfere with my hobby”. received that Goldsmith’s friend insisted Blalock would agree. With a warm laugh, on payment. Goldsmith declined, accept- she noted that Goldsmith and his wife are ing instead a photograph that his photo- “continual learners, they are very dynamic buff friend had taken and had framed. people”. She added, “It’s hard to keep track Goldsmith sees both similarities and dif- of his work schedule, let alone his outside ferences between his jewelry-making and schedule.” metalsmithing and his professional role as Goldsmith’s long-term goal with his jew- editor. Both are challenging, and design is elry-making is to create a “small number of very important—on the one hand for an pieces of museum-quality art with a Jewish inspirational piece, for example, and on the theme”. In particular, he would like to other, for a good article. Both are held to create ceremonial Jewish art for the home high standards, Goldsmith added, and preci- whose quality is such that “if I donate it, sion and measurement play crucial roles. For it won’t end up in the attic”. For now, he metalworking, he often works on a project in takes great pleasure in making pieces of which fractions of a millimeter are involved; jewelry for family and friends. “I love it with scientific articles, accuracy and clarity when people wear my things”, he said. are a must. A major difference, however, is that metalworking is a solitary process RITA M WASHKO, a physician and gradu- whereas working for a scientific journal ate student in journalism at Arizona State involves lots of interactions with reviewers University, prepared this article while a and those with a stake in the article and thus Science Editor intern. is very social.

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