Michael Dawson was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, USA. He was born on 17 March 1945 in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland, the second child and only son of Wilfred Ernest Dawson, a physicist, and Phyllis May Dawson née Osborne, the daughter of a railway fireman. He attended St Joseph’s Convent, Sidcup to the age of ten and then St Dunstan’s College, Catford, London. He studied medicine at the London Hospital and qualified in 1969. He was a prosector and demonstrator in anatomy at University College, Cardiff, a senior house officer in surgery at Hammersmith Hospital and a registrar in general and orthopaedic surgery in Bethnal Green. He also trained at the Robert and Agnes Hunt Hospital in Oswestry. He was a lecturer in anatomy at the British School of Osteopathy. He immigrated to the United States and was an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in spines at Pottsville for 39 years, retiring in March 2012. He was a self-taught pianist, percussionist and composer, and enjoyed attending concerts at the Proms and in Philadelphia. He built model railways, made model airplanes and played golf with a wide circle of friends on courses across Pennsylvania. He enjoyed classic cars and, when he was younger, motorcycles. He and his wife loved food, travel and entertaining. He was married twice. In 1966 he married Dimity Jane Fry, daughter of John Fry, a founder member of the Royal College of General Practitioners. They had two sons, Charlie and Oliver. He subsequently divorced and he later married Pauline Pereira. They had a son, Frederick. He had five grandchildren. Dawson died on 2 April 2020 from cancer. He was 75.