William Woodard McLendon

I had the joy of appointing Bill as Editor of the Archives of Pathology succeeding Ken Brinkhous. We promptly changed the name to the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine which he then edited for many years. We engineered a transfer of ownership of the journal from the AMA to the College of American Pathologists. It (and he) continued to thrive. Very grateful to him and his spouse (and AMA, CAP, UNC).

Below is a note I wrote to Bill in January about a year long project I am working on. Like so many, Bill really "mattered" in my life. When I came to NC as a post-doctoral fellow in 1978, you were almost a mystical figure-the man who was going to lead the clinical laboratories to great things. One of the things that Larry McCarthy said to me was you really understood the future of diagnostic medicine, and that feature would rely on automation. Little did I know that one day, robots would be...

Our most sincere sympathies to the family Virginia Brown and Larry Smith

Bill McLendon meant a lot to me and to my medical career. He had a major role in building lab services of UNC Hospitals in the 1970s-1990s. Even after his retirement, he continued to visit the department to check out the latest new technologies, to catch up with colleagues at grand rounds, and to give a pat on the back to his disciples. He, his wife Anne, and I resonated in the `Rah-Rah Carolina´ spirit that permeated each annual Berryhill lecture event. He embraced efficiency, cost...

I so admired him and his enthusiasm and interest in pretty well everything everywhere. I met and got to know Anne and Bill when I bought their big, rambling, wonderful old house at 912 Woodbine Drive in Chapel Hill. He often came back to visit the house, especially the large 'workshop' downstairs he had spent so much time in. I reluctantly left the house and the 13 staircases (yes, 13 !) and returned to my hometown in Mount Airy to retire and save the oldest house in town -1830's, and open...