His bedside manner was famously reassuring; his advice was good old common sense: "Bringing up your child won't be a complicated job if you take it easy, trust your own instincts, and follow the directions that your doctor gives you."
We're talking about Dr. Benjamin Spock, who offered those soothing words to a nation of anxious parents in 1946. Since then, nearly 50 million copies of Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care have been printed in 42 languages. Spock, whose presence loomed large during the formative years of the baby-boom generation, was 94 when he died in March, leaving the stage...