All I Wanted Was a Home

About the Book

I was raised in Buckner Orphans Home near Dallas, Texas. This is my story. It is told through a series of tales, each of which reveals something about the operation of the institution and its impact on me. I have recreated these adventures for several reasons.

About the Author

Clark Watts was born and raised in Dallas, Texas; he is a 1955 high school graduate of Buckner Academy. After receiving a B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, he was licensed to practice medicine in Texas in 1962. Following a residency in neurosurgery at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, he entered private practice in Dallas in 1970 (with neurosurgical Board certification in 1972). Notable among other academic positions, he was Professor of Surgery (Neurosurgery) and Director of the Neurosurgery Residency Program at the University of Missouri in Columbia from 1976 to 1991, with professorship positions at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas (1970-1975), at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore (1991-1993), and at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio (1993-1997). He has held a number of elected and appointed positions in medicine, including President of the Texas Association of Neurological Surgeons (1997-1998) and Editor of Neurosurgery, the journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (1982-1987). He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri in Columbia in 1990, and has been a member of the Texas Bar since 1992. He served twenty-seven years in the U.S. Army Reserves as a general medical officer, neurosurgeon, flight surgeon, advisor on reserve affairs to the Department of Defense, and hospital commander, receiving the Order of Military Medical Merit and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He retired in 1998 at the rank of Brigadier General. He retired from medical practice in October 2005. He currently is Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Texas School of Law, Austin, where he has taught since 1996. He and his wife, Patricia, reside in Austin, Texas, with their two English bulldogs, Candy Cane and Al.