Dr. Benjamin Spock was a pediatrician, author, political activist, Olympic gold medalist and presidential candidate. Benjamin McLane Spock was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on May 2, 1903.http://www.drspock.com/about/drbenjaminspock/0,1781,,00.html He attended Phillips Academy and Yale University. He received his doctorate degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. Between 1946 and 1994 he wrote 13 books on the subject of parenting. Eight editions of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care have been released since 1946. The seventh edition was the last to which Dr. Spock personally contributed. It was published two weeks after his death on May 2, 1998.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0502.html He died in California on March 15, 1998. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/jan-june98/spock_3-16.html

In addition to writing, Spock was a political activist who protested against the Vietnam War. In 1972 he ran for President of the United States on a third-party ticket. His platform focused on legalizing abortion, providing free medical care and ending the war. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0502.html He was married two times. His first marriage was to Jane Cheney. The couple had two sons, Michael and John.http://www.drspock.com/about/drbenjaminspock/0,1781,,00.html In 1976 he married his second wife, Mary Morgan. They co-authored the book Spock on Spock in 1985.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0819280/bio

Dr. Spock did his undergraduate work at Yale University. While attending Yale he competed with the school's rowing team at the 1924 Olympics in Paris. The team won the Gold medal.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0819280/bio After graduating from Columbia University, Dr. Spock worked as a professor and researcher at the Mayo Clinic, the University of Pittsburgh and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Spock/e/B001IGFMOE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 From 1933 to 1947 he practiced pediatrics in New York.http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Spock/e/B001IGFMOE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

In 1946 he published his first book The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. He often cited Sigmund Freud and John Dewey's practices in his writings.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0502.html The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care has been translated into 42 different languages and has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0502.html In addition to his books, he wrote columns for numerous magazines including Ladies Home Journal, Parenting and Redbook.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0502.html In 1996 writer and director Robert Richter made a documentary about the doctor called Ben Spock, Baby Doctor.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1633965/

I think a lot of conservative doctors felt [it] was a direct threat to them, going to impair the whole, if not, destroy the whole basis of private practice.http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/11157

Dr. Benjamin Spock

Don't be afraid to trust your own common sense. What good mothers and fathers instinctively feel like doing for their babies is usually best.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0502.html

Dr. Benjamin Spock

Maybe my book helped a generation not to be intimidated by adulthood. When I was young, I was always made to assume that I was wrong. Now young people think they might be right and stand up to authority.http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0502.html

Dr. Benjamin Spock

• 1946: Baby and Child Care (with revisions up to eighth edition in 2004)

• 1954: A Baby's First Year

• 1955: Feeding Your Baby and Child

• 1961: Dr. Spock Talks With Mothers

• 1962: Problems of Parents

• 1965: Caring for Your Disabled Child'

• 1968: Dr. Spock on Vietnam

• 1970: Decent and Indecent

• 1970: A Teenager's Guide to Life and Love

• 1974: Raising Children in a Difficult Time

• 1988: Spock on Parenting

• 1989: Spock on Spock: a Memoir of Growing Up With the Century

• 1994: A Better World for Our Children