Pros from Dover

[Paul M. Johnson]

Since Dover Del. is the state capitol, is there a Med. school there, or were
they horseplayers at Dover Downs? Anyone know Ring Lardner Jr. ask him!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Wilton" <dave at WILTON.NET>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 11:33 AM
Subject: Re: Pros from Dover


> > > A subscriber has asked about "pros from Dover", which he has found
> > >  in the Tom Clancy book "Rainbow Six" and which seems to mean
> > >  experts. I know that it was used in the 1970 Robert Altman film
> > >  M*A*S*H. Can anyone take it back further or give me a pointer to
> > >  where it might have come from?
> >
> > You didn't give the context of either quote, so the following
> > is a guess:
>
> The context of the M*A*S*H usage is that Hawkeye and Trapper are called to
> Tokyo to perform minor surgery on a congressman's son. They view the trip
> primarily as a way to get in a golf outing. They call themselves the "pros
> from Dover" and show disdain for the Tokyo hospital staff.
>
> I inferred (without evidence) that it had something to do with golf. Is
> there a famous golf course at some place named Dover?
>
> > Dover is the name of a publishing company that for over half
> > a century has
> > been turning out high-quality paperback reprints of mathematical and
> > scientific books.  It is a pretty safe bet that any given
> > expert in math,
> > physical sciences, or engineering has several dozen Dover
> > reprints in her or
> > his home library.
>
> Good guess. Do they do medical books? Militating against it is the sense
of
> troubleshooting consultant rather than written authority.
>