Plastic surgery pioneer Thomas Rees dies of cancer, at 86

Dr. Thomas Rees, a pioneer of modern "aesthetic surgery" and a humanitarian who performed life-saving surgery in rural Africa for free, has died. He was 86, and the cause was liver cancer. From the NYT obit: "New York magazine once referred to Dr. Rees as "one of the fathers of aesthetic surgery in New York," and he is credited with helping to elevate cosmetic surgery from something one did not really discuss to almost a status symbol."