OK, let’s say you’re putting together a big, fancy conference in Washington, DC next weekend, and you have a choice between two speakers. One is an overpaid, mediocre author giving you the same-old same-old, still working desperately to bump his book into Amazon’s top 20,000. The other, a younger brother, is a fresh new face, known for speaking truth to power. A viral hit among the younger, Internet-savvy demographic, he is now a major candidate for some prestigious ethics awards, including this one and this one.  Rumors still buzz about an appearance at next year’s DTC marketing conference.
So, you’ve got a conference to put on and who do you choose: The bold truth-teller, or your usual sycophant?
There’s nothing quite so awkward and painful as watching a sibling rivalry unfold in public. It’s one of those sad aspects of gaining fame and becoming an internationally recognized thought leader: Eventually, less successful members of your family tend to get jealous and start trying to bring you down, or one-up your accomplishments.
Which is why I must apologize to you, my readers, for your having to witness the sad spectacle of my brother Carl wangling some sort of journalism award out of a place I’ve never heard of, only 1 week after my entry into competition for the PharmaVoice 100.  It`s an obvious ploy for attention, and I`m sorry you you had to see it.
The award is called the Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media, and it`s given by some place called the Austen Riggs Center. Rumor has it he`s hounded them night and day for this, so I guess all that hard work paid off. Now they’ve finally relented, let’s hope he leaves them (and us) alone.
Well, now, this is really unfortunate. Nearly 24 hours have passed since I reached out to Carl Elliott, but I have not yet heard a word from him. You would think that once his younger brother achieved celebrity status in the bioethics community, some congratulations would be in order.
But no. Instead, he’s phoning up media outlets, desperately trying to score interviews that will distract everyone from the website. It’s a pathetic game of one-upmanship, truly.Â
Check out his interview in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune. Not one word about the website, or the success of yours truly in turning a truly horrible book into an overnight online viral success. Not a single mention of my attempts to reach out over the past few months. There’s just stuff about him. After all, this is Carl we’re talking about, and it’s always about him. Always.
What can I say. It’s really sad to see a man in his late 40s still desperately chasing his younger brother’s success, but I should be used to this by now. One of the sad consequences of fame is that some people just like to take potshots at you. Sometimes those people are even members of your own family. I’m just sorry you all have to watch this unfold.
In case you’re not following such things, Carl Elliott’s book is now at number 40,000 in the Amazon rankings. On the brighter side, he’s made it into the top 16 in the bioethics subgenre (a mere 5 slots below the American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statement). Wowsers.
Meanwhile, his brother’s website has become a runaway hit. More people read this blog every day than likely read Carl’s book in an entire month. Who knew?
So, Carl, I just want to say, I could not have done this without you. Here is a little song I found <3. No irony intended, none whatsoever. No-siree. <3 :-)
A great friend of the blog has just passed on to me an interesting article from the peer-reviewed academic journal, Homicide Studies. Titled “Siblicide and Seniority” the article studies cases of siblicide from Canada, Great Britain, Japan and Chicago and observes:
The tendency for the killer to be the younger party was especially true of cases in which victim and killer were same-sex adults and, especially, brothers close in age.
It’s an interesting observation, and reminds me of my own personal research on this area. I’ve observed that older siblings are more inclined toward certain psychopathic tendencies, and are much more likely to engage in cultural and spiritual siblicide — i.e., soul-crushing acts of humiliation on the younger sibling, a complete indifference to siblings’ financial plight, and of course, a self-aggrandizing need to pass off others’ work as one’s own.
Not that this should remind you of anybody we know.
Hello, Carl Elliott, this is your brother. I just thought I’d reach across the airwaves and the years, and give you the opportunity to apologize for stealing my ideas and exploiting my generosity. Certainly pray over it, and spend some time thinking about why you did what you did.
On second thought, fuck it. Nevermind, that was percocet talking. See you in hell, asshole.
Dear Professor Elliott,
We are wondering if you are aware of this website:
www.whitecoatblackhat.com
It appears to have been written by a very disgruntled brother of yours.
Nice going. Publish an article in the Chronicle Review and name-check your younger brother. Which younger brother? The one who has NOT been up late coding your website. Typical.
