James Herriott (1916 - 1995)

James Herriott, veterinarian and author, was born in Sunderland, Scotland on this day in 1916.

Herriot -- the pen name and alter ego of James Alfred Wight -- wrote 15 books in the time that he could wrest away from his practice. They sold 50 million copies in 20 countries.

But he continued his veterinary practice long after his books made him famous.

"If a farmer calls me with a sick animal, he couldn't care less if I were George Bernard Shaw," he once said.

In high school, during some short illness of mine, my mother bought the set of books beginning with All Creatures Great and Small. I have no memory of the flu or cold from which I was suffering, only the joy I felt at finding these tales of a young vet and his interesting life.