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Bruce Argyle, the Mad Scientist ER Doc Rock 'n Rolling Biker,
is now 50 years old (October, 2000). As you look into the soulful eyes of Bruce at age six, don't be fooled.
Although a good-hearted lad, this
boy was a mad scientist from the beginning. If you dared enter the messy bedroom full of cider bottles
containing garter snakes, and managed not to choke on the fumes from his chemistry
experiments, you'd see stuffed sparrows dressed in business suits and stuffed gophers
playing poker, home-made rubber band-powered boats, Model-T cars constructed
of bailing wire and canvas, hand-carved ball-in-the-boxes, goat-harnesses
braided of bailing twine, and wheels for the latest goat-powered device. |
| Bruce's early years were spent as a farm boy. He remembers the "penny
a day" calendar, from which he borrowed his older brother's pennies in hopes of
getting his squirt gun earlier, and the cloth playhouse that folded over the card table. Here
little blond Brucie sits on the steps of the old bunkhouse at the ranch north of Randolph, Utah.
That's older brother Scott on the tricycle and little sister Anna being held by Mom. |
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Gifted sports hero, popular with the girls, active in clubs and civic
organizations -- these are a few of the phrases that have NOTHING to do with Bruce's teen
years. With his nose rapidly outgrowing his face and wearing thick dorky glasses, Bruce
was a true geek both in appearance and behavior. When not hunting carp or making
fireworks, he was milking goats and putting up hay. Here Bruce assists one of the family
goats in pulling little brother Robert and sister Kay. |
| During college, Bruce discovered that he could make more money pretending
to be a rock 'n roller than pretending he could cook at Westwoods Cafe. So he did both.
Bruce was rarely seen during those years, as he did little besides working and going to
school. Bruce continued to play bass guitar with Oak Harbor through medical school. The
band was one of the strongest formative experiences of his life -- and at the Pearly
Gates, we expect Bruce to give his vocation as "Rock and Roll! and I was a doctor for
a while too."
It was while playing guitar that Bruce met lovely Diane Flygare, who in a rare moment
of foolishness, thought she'd found a solid caring guy. They were married in 1976. |
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Just a few years after starting a practice in Emergency Medicine, Bruce
began to dabble at computer programming. Completely self-taught, he was a pioneer at fuzzy
logic, speech interpretation, and real-time simulations on computer. In Bruce's 15
minutes of fame, he made the cover of his home town newspaper without killing anyone. He's
written seven software programs, and six medical education books. |
| Which brings us to the Bruce we know today. A board-certified emergency
physician, Bruce practices full time in Salt Lake City. He's been chairman of the
Emergency Department at Orem Hospital and at Cottonwood Hospital, paramedic medical
director, member of the Board of Governors and President of the Utah Chapter of the
American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).
He has seven good-looking and talented children, a beautiful wife, and enough money to
buy happiness. Or at least, a very nice mountain bike. |
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The Argyle family lives in Alpine, a small village between Salt Lake City
and Provo, just outside the border of the Lone Peak Wilderness. Bruce's vices include
mountain biking (with his hyperactive little dog Jackie, as in the photo above), skiing,
scuba diving, specialty photography (underwater photography, underwater video, and
mountain photography), painting, and writing.
Happy 50th Birthday to Brucie! |
A Brucie Quiz! (answers at bottom)
1. Which of the following was NOT one of Bruce's teenage nicknames:
A. Moose
B. Tree
C. Goat Ears
D. Doc
2. In his teen years, Bruce used a "pushrake" during the summer. A
pushrake is:
A. A garden tool with tines and small rolling wheels, used to
groom flowers
B. A type of broom used to clear away heavy debris in homes under
construction
C. A 2-ton truck chassis turned backwards with cedar-post teeth
on the front, used to shove wild hay
D. A tined, long-handled prober used to break clams off rocks
beneath the boat
3. Bruce made his own arrows. These were used:
A. On the school archery team
B. For target practice
C. For a research project of different Indian cultures' fletching
patterns
D. On carp
4. Bruce was a chemistry major. Those who attended the same (undergraduate)
university were known as:
A. Running Utes
B. Zoobies
C. Bulldogs
D. Polygamists
5. At age 12, Bruce built his first:
A. 17-foot kayak
B. Tree house
C. Coat rack
D. Vacation home
6. At age 3, Bruce was pounded by his older brother because Bruce:
A. Said there was no Santa Claus
B. Pushed him off the hay rack
C. Wasn't potty trained yet
D. Tried to steal his puppy
7. Bruce's major use for Elmer's Glue was:
A. Gluing automobile keyholes shut
B. Manufacturing fireworks
C. Origami
D. Creating art designs on canvas
Answers:
1-D Bruce was never known as Doc until he was in Med school. All the others --
Tree, Moose, and Goat Ears -- were applied.
2-C A pushrake shoves large piles of loose wild hay from the field to the
stackyard.
3-D Bruce was never happier than when barefoot in the swamps near his house,
stalking carp with bow and arrow.
4-B BYU students were known as "zoobies," as in "B-Y-Zoo."
Bulldogs were Provo High students.
5-A Bruce built 4 large hard-shell kayaks during his teen years, later
converting one to a sailboat.
6-A Yes, Bruce figured out where Christmas presents come from, and decided to
share this knowledge.
7-B When potassium perchlorate is mixed with Elmer's Glue and allowed to dry,
the flakes make a purple incendiary material.
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