Laurence Beahan, MD '55

From psychiatrist to author

Laurence Beahan, M.D. ’55, has spent the majority of his life, more than 35 years, as a psychiatrist. Although he was primarily based in Buffalo, Beahan also had stints working in New York City and Japan, where he served four years at Tachikawa Air Force Base. He even worked in the UB student health clinic on a part-time basis.

Since retiring from his private practice in 1991, the Snyder, NY resident has shifted his focus to the preservation of the great outdoors. Through his work as a member of both the Adirondack Mountain and Sierra clubs, Beahan has built an impressive resume as an environmental activist. He has written numerous articles for various publications and he’s released a pair of self-published book, the most recent of which is last year’s Allegany Hellbender Tales. The book is a compilation of essays, articles and stories about Allegany State Park.

“It’s accounts of park experiences heard from many voices: some my own, some historical and some fictitious,” said Beahan, who is a member of the Allegany State Park Historical Society. “I’ve sold out my first 1,000 copies and I’m waiting for another 1,000 to be delivered. It’s gratifying because the park means a lot to me. I first visited Allegany with my family when I was 4. I would go there to camp with my sister and as a Boy Scout. My wife, Lyn, and I spent our honeymoon there as camp counselors.

“Unfortunately, over the last 15 years, there have been a number of challenges that the park has faced. I discuss some of these issues in the book, including how to protect Allegany’s great aging forest. One of the biggest issues was a master plan a few years back that would’ve logged off 60 percent of the park. We publicized that fact and we got thousands of people in Buffalo stirred up. We had one big meeting at the public library downtown, which was jam-packed. We had signatures posted all around the walls from people that didn’t want to see that plan go into effect. It didn’t take long for us to get a promise from Governor George Pataki that there would never be commercial logging in the park.”

Beahan also has a soft spot in his heart for the Adirondack Mountains. His father was born in a logging camp that his grandfather and great uncles ran up in the mountains. However, it wasn’t until Beahan was 40 that he realized he had relatives who were lumberjacks. That prompted him to pen his first book, “My Grampa’s Woods, the Adirondacks,” four years ago.

“I remember going to my grandfather’s house in Carthage, on the edge of the Adirondacks,” said Beahan. “He had this picture above the wood stove of himself and bunch of rough looking guys in old clothes. They could have been the James Gang. They turned out to be Grampa’s logging crew from 1900. So I used that picture as the cover of my book. I think the thing that sells the book is that picture. People who walk into one of the stores up there see that funky picture of Grampa and buy a copy to take home a piece of Adirondacks.”

Still at UB

Retirement hasn’t slowed Beahan down. He also keeps busy by auditing classes at UB and participating in master’s swimming, a passion that dates back to his college days when he swam backstroke on UB’s first varsity swim team.

“When I first got to UB, there was just a pit under the old Clark Gym,” said Beahan. “They practiced archery in there. But by second semester, Coach Bill Sanford had installed a swimming pool there.”

He closed reflecting, “My UB medical class was the last to use the old red medina sandstone Medical School on High Street. It had the coziest library with balconies nooks and crannies for study or sleep and the buildings front doors were castle sized, large enough for professors to be driven in by coach. The new SUNY Buffalo campus has many conveniences but you can’t commute there in a four-horse Brougham.”

Written by Keith Page
February 2004

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