Jim Green was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, Lincolnshire. He was born on 17 March 1930 in Sheffield and attended High Storrs Grammar School, before going to Sheffield University in 1947. He had a great interest in anything to do with science, particularly physics and mathematics, often wondering whether he should have followed that particular path. Neither of his parents were medical. His father, Leonard Green, was a sergeant in the police force, and his mother, Edna Winifred Maxfield, was a teacher. His sister, Valerie White, also trained in medicine and entered general practice. After qualifying and following house appointments, he joined the RAMC for National Service in 1954 and reached the rank of major. A degree of boredom led him to study German, passing O-level in that subject. This stimulated a love of languages, particularly Russian, and he attended classes virtually up until the time of his death. Returning to Sheffield for two years as a demonstrator of anatomy from 1956, he was a general surgical registrar at the Royal Infirmary, Sheffield, from 1961 to 1963. He decided to specialise in orthopaedics, first as a registrar from 1963 to 1964, and then as a senior registrar at Harlow Wood Orthopaedic Hospital, Mansfield, until 1968. On obtaining the Alan Malkin travelling fellowship in 1967, he spent six weeks gaining further experience in western Europe. He was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, in 1968 and remained there until he retired in 1996. Never one to take centre stage, he preferred to work away quietly in his own surroundings in the company of local colleagues, friends and family. After retirement he continued with medico-legal work. A quiet, modest man who was devoted to the care of his patients, he was recognised for a meticulous approach in all his work. He was a ‘direct’ Yorkshire man, whose love for patients was only matched by a greater one for his family. He had many hobbies. He loved astronomy, sailing and maritime navigation, and he gained qualifications in radio-communication. A member of the Witham Sailing Club, he loved to escape to the Wash in his 27-foot yacht. He was prominent in masonic lodges in Sheffield and Boston, a keen gardener, and a member of the Boston Preservation Society. He had played the violin in his school orchestra, and his love of music never failed. He married Pamela née Scott (known as ‘Frankie’) in 1968. She had been a district midwife and then did a full-time secretarial course, which proved a great asset to Jim in his work. They had four children, the eldest, Deborah, trained at Sheffield and is a part-time general practitioner in Leeds. In January 2001 Jim developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and over the next three years underwent repeated courses of chemotherapy, ultimately requiring dialysis for renal failure. He died from multiple organ failure in St James’s Hospital, Leeds, on 29 January 2004.