Dr. Douglas Wigle died on July 3, 2013, in Toronto after a long illness at the age of 84. A lifelong Canadian, Doug left a lasting mark on North American and international cardiovascular medicine by virtue of a vigorous career which spanned more than 50 years. He received countless awards and gave numerous invited keynote lectures throughout the world and served as the Chief of Cardiology at Toronto General Hospital from 1972 to 1986, an institution he served faithfully for 40 years as a Professor of Medicine. It is generally conceded that he established a preeminent cardiovascular program and international referral center, and many in Canada believe he is deserving of the title of “father of modern cardiology.” In recognition of his achievements, in 2007, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, the Canadian equivalent of Knighthood. His friends, colleagues, and professional admirers are in the hundreds, and he was a good friend and mentor to us.

We are also fortunate to remember Doug as a true pioneer in the “new” disease of the early 1960s, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, also called muscular subaortic stenosis in Canada at that time. That Doug was a pioneer is stated here without any sense of exaggeration. He was there at the beginning when there was enormous uncertainty about this “odd” and complex familial disease. Doug, along with Gene Braunwald, brought clarity in the critical early days of the disease, probably not expecting what it would become 50 years later, as a common contemporary and treatable condition. In particular, Doug Wigle developed the crucial principle of dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which we take for granted now, but which represents the foundation for surgical intervention to relieve outflow obstruction, reverse heart failure, and restore severely symptomatic patients to normal activity and lifestyle, as well as extended longevity.

This is the role Doug envisioned for the septal myectomy operation early on and what he continued to promote throughout his professional career in Toronto working with eminent surgeons Bill Bigelow, Bill Williams, and Tony Ralph-Edwards, but also elsewhere in the world where this operation was performed. In this regard, we can remember Doug by his seminal moment in the landmark Great Obstruction Debate in 1966 in New York City at the annual American Heart Association meeting where the very principle of outflow obstruction was under attack. He importantly helped resolve the controversy with evidence supporting the legitimacy and pathophysiologic significance of the subaortic gradient in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and in effect “saving” the surgical myectomy operation.

Doug’s commitment, insight, and energies to the diagnosis and management of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy have allowed literally uncountable numbers of patients to live long and productive lives. Doug’s curiosity and enthusiasm about the disease to which he was committed throughout his professional life was obvious by his vigorous participation in 5 Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Summits in Minneapolis, at which a lecture in his name has been established.

Doug indeed was a giant in his field. He saw things from a height that most of us could not reach, and he elevated those around him to see what he saw and to kindle in them the passion that he himself always felt. Doug did what Emerson suggested: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” He truly blazed a trail for the modern Canadian academic cardiologists, and generations of trainees will forever remember his contribution to their success.

He was a gentleman, a skilled, wise, and honorable scholar-physician and mentor/teacher of excellence, as well as husband, father, and tireless worker who made a difference in the lives of grateful patients, physicians, and many others. He will surely be missed by all of us whose lives he made better.