Francis McGuckin graduated MB, BS from the University of Durham in 1926, obtained the FRCS Ed in 1930 and the MD with Gold Medal in 1935. He was ear, nose and throat surgeon to the Royal Victoria Infirmary and formerly lecturer in otolaryngology at King's College Medical School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Having experience of the intracranial complications of non-malignant destructive ear disease he developed a lifelong interest in the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma and his hypothesis that it "develops from without inward". Having great gifts for lucid speaking and of friendship, he was in great demand as a speaker especially in the USA and was a frequent contributor to meetings of the Section of Otology of the Royal Society of Medicine, of which he was secretary, member of council and President (1963). He was awarded the W J Harrison Prize in otology of the RSM and the Jobson Horne Prize of the BMA. He was President of the North of England Otolaryngological Society and of the Durham University Medical School Society. He was a good golfer, a keen fisherman and a lover of Bach. He played the organ in church and had an annexe built for an electric organ in his house. Latterly his eyesight failed but he was supported by his many friends, his family and his own courage and deep religious faith. He died on 25 January 1983 aged 78.