Birth date: Dec 19, 1937 Death date: Jul 11, 2021
Maurice B. Landers, III, MD, an ophthalmologist and pioneer in the treatment of vitreoretinal diseases and mentor to scores of leading ophthalmologists across the country and globally in a career spanning over 58 years, passed awa Read Obituary
Sending heartfelt condolences to Landers family. Mark Kelley.
Joel Pearlman,
MD, PhD, FASRS
Editor in Chief, Retina Times
President
Retinal Consultants Medical Group
Sacramento, California
Dr. Reece Landers is sitting in his usual spot
directly in front of the speaker at the Squaw
Valley Retina Symposium. His silver mane of
hair is slicked back, and he is fidgeting in his
seat next to his longtime friend, cohost, and
co-conspirator, Rob Wendel, MD. The snow is
gently falling outside on the beautiful Sierra
Nevada mountains.
All eyes are fixed on the speaker, Lee Jampol,
MD, a world-renowned authority on uveitis,
who is finishing up a thorough exposition
of the difference between white dots and
white spots. Undaunted by the complexity
of the topic, Reece draws a parallel between
multifocal choroiditis and punctate inner
choroidopathy, which most of us missed,
but he is excited about the next talk on
diabetic retinopathy. He feels that our current
management, sophisticated as it is, may
not be quite right and that we all might be
missing the point by obsessing about VEGF,
which is just acting downstream of the real
pathology (hypoxia).
Reece was always an out-of-the-box thinker,
ready to challenge the status quo, always
encouraging young creative doctors, and, in
his gentle way, never allowing us to be blinded
by our own underlying assumptions. He was
perhaps the most peripatetic ophthalmologist
since Tadini in the 18th century—serving as
the chief of multiple retina services, working
in private practice for a while, and traveling
the world both teaching and learning, which
to him were really the same thing.
Reece invented new ways of seeing the
retina; his multiple eponymous lenses and
keratoprostheses have become the quotidian
tools of our specialty. He helped pioneer
numerous ways of treating the retina, including laser photocoagulation and fluid-air
exchange, which we now take for granted.
Reece encouraged a young Dr. Rob Wendel
and his colleague, Neil Kelly, MD, to pursue
their cure for macular holes at a time when
such treatment was exceedingly controversial.
For nearly 6 decades, Reece trained innumerable fellows, residents, and medical students,
creating a worldwide network of friends and
experts. And he put on hilarious skits at the
Squaw Valley Symposium that would be the
pride of Kirk Packo, MD.
Nick Ulrich, MD, a longtime colleague at
UNC, said it best. “Of all my colleagues,
Reece enjoyed being an ophthalmologist the
most. He had a special passion for teaching.
Reece tirelessly tried to figure out ways to
improve patient care. He read every journal he
could get his hands on.
“Reece was never content with the conventional wisdom and never too old to try out
something new. His green-ink emails at
3 AM, challenging current opinions and
creating collaborations around the globe, were
famous. He spoke up and told the truth, even
if it was uncomfortable. His patients adored
him. He made UNC a unique place.”
Jeffrey Benner, MD, recalled, “He gave me
a chance to become a retina surgeon, and I
am eternally grateful. But more than that,
he taught us to challenge prevailing beliefs,
innovate, and to strive to make things better
for patients. Reece lived that way—throughout
his whole career.”
Drs. Chris Semple and Cynthia Toth added,
“We will always carry a little bit of him
with us.”
Dr. Landers is survived by his wife, Wendy
Marbury, his 3 children, David, Kathleen, and
Diana Landers, and his 5 grandchildren. For
those of us who learned from him and loved
him, the world of retina is so much richer for
his contributions and irresistible enthusiasm.
Heaven just received one of the greats.
Dearest Wendy and the rest of Dr. Landers' Loving Family,
Reece was a wonderful colleague and friend for more than 15 years at the University of North Carolina Department of Ophthalmology. While we knew him well as a vitreoretinal specialist, researcher and professor, the beautiful Celebration of Life ceremony allowed us to know him as a cherished father, grandfather, and brother as well. He will be greatly missed by so many and the memories we all share will live on. "We must press on."
Rest in Peace, dear Reece.
All the very best, Seema Garg
When Great Trees Fall
When great trees fall, rocks on distant hill shutter,
lions hunker down in tall grasses, and even elephants lumber after safety.
When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence,
their senses erode beyond fear.
When great souls die, the air around us becomes a light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines,
gnaws on kind words unsaid,
promised walks never taken.
Great souls die and our reality, bound to them, takes leave of us.
Our souls, dependent upon their nurture, now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed and informed by their radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened as reduced to the unutterable
ignorance of dark, cold caves.
And when great Souls die, after a period blooms, slowly and
always irregularly.
Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be better.
For they existed.
~Maya Angelou
Wendy--
Remembering many special events and Reece's beaming face when you were at his side! Hugs and sympathy!
Cindy T
In many ways, Reece and I grew up together. Early, through our high school years, we shared the middle California, middle class values of the 1950s and 60s. Although we didn't know one another then, we lived close to one another. He in Ventura and I in Ojai 15 miles apart. After college and medical school, we met as residents at UCLA and began our "growing up" as ophthalmologists, both having young families and both sharing a wish to excel in our field. Many things drew me to Reece: his intelligence, charm, wit, curiosity, and sense of fun. But, most of all, he was smart and he was funny. We spent many hours sitting in the pathology lab doing "research" together, listening to country music and laughing hysterically. We were, from the beginning, more than friends, but brothers-in-arms. We set out to transform our field and have a blast doing it. It was a natural that we ended up in academic medicine.
Although we took separate paths in life, we maintained our close relationship always. When vitreous surgery came along, we embraced it, Reece at Duke and me at UCLA. We were an inseparable duo at the surgical meetings that the new field spawned. Whenever I was with him, I learned something new. He was open minded, but critically astute, ready to deflate pompous or egocentric assertions with his razor sharp wit. His academic contributions to our field go way beyond those published in journals. His intellectual additions to the field happened at meetings, in discussions, and in his teaching. He loved his fellows and affected their lives in profound ways.
Reece was always looking to find the humorous in our field. Even as a resident, he found ways to turn Grand Rounds into a mini skit. He was the instigator of countless funny skits at Vail and Squaw Valley meetings, involving the "mighty" and bringing them down to earth with his humor. He loved being the director. I was the gofer that facilitated many of his creations.
Once we made it through this adolescence, our friendship became more philosophical and even more of a joy. We could go on for hours, discussing just about any field you can think of. Reece was always full of ideas and had a way of engaging me in his thoughts like nobody else. We communicated regularly from the very beginning of our friendship: early by mail (his written in green ink) and later by phone and email.
Reece and I were true friends. We shared the joys and sorrows of our lives, the wins and losses, the good times and the bad times. We shared thoughts, insights, and revelations over the years. His presence made an incalculable difference in my life. It won't be the same without him, but his influence will carry on.
Remembering Reece as a life-changing teacher, innovator and mentor to whom I attribute my surgical training and career direction.
