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From the Editor

Hear This

     I didn’t hear Walter and Edwin Hawkins perform at the Art & Soul Oakland festival in August, but thanks to Lee Hildebrand’s article “The First Family of Gospel Music” about the gospel music dynasty and the family’s shaping of the African-American genre, I feel like I did. Hildebrand, an East Bay music writer who’s covered blues, R&B, jazz and gospel music since the late 1960s, paints a vivid image of Bishop Walter Hawkins robustly directing his Love Center Choir on the Art & Soul gospel stage, so I can almost hear his melodious tenor and the swell of voices crescendoing.
     The music veteran has heard the talented Hawkins clan in Walter’s West Oakland church and on many other stages. For this article, he sits down with the brothers at their estate in Ripon and traces their musical roots back to their parents and poverty and follows the close-knit, Oakland-raised pair and their rise to fame to the present day. Walter, the younger of the two, and Edwin, whose arrangement of “Oh Happy Day” became a top 10 pop hit in 1969, recently embarked on a two-year tour commemorating the 40th anniversary of the hit     Walter is a recent pancreatic cancer survivor who faced a horrible health ordeal, intensive surgery and chemo and radiation therapy. Sound health is an important issue for East Bay consumers who, thankfully, can count on an abundance of excellent healthcare options and providers right here in their own backyards.
      So that you can feel more assured about your personal healthcare, Oakland Magazine devotes a lot of energy and ink to the annual East Bay Medical Guide in this issue. The Med Guide coverage includes the list of the East Bay’s top physicians — as determined by Best Doctors Inc. — and the latest crop singles out 220 outstanding professionals for recognition. Healthcare writer Linda Childers introduces a few top practitioners, asking this diverse batch about the latest developments in their fields. She also tackles thyroid disease, sports injuries, shingles, osteoporosis and arthritis and completes a survey of East Bay hospital services.
     The East Bay Medical Guide ought to make you feel confident about your healthcare options. Here’s to your health.

judy@oaklandmagazine.com