5 comments about Sarah's Song: A True Story of Love and Courage.

1. I want to thank those readers of my late daughter's book for their comments. To those who might not know, Janice died on Sept.28,1996. She had received transfusions in July and contracte Hepatitis C. She was no longer strong enough to fight off the infection. She was brave and hopeful to the end.



2. Sarah's Song is a wonderful book that takes you on the journey of a newly married couple's discovery of their HIV infection and the struggles they live through as they battle it. There is a bit of all of us in this couple. They could have been any of us or our friends. Their story will make you cry many times. It is told intelligently and with wit and courage.I read the book in 1996 and always wondered how Janice was doing. I see by her mothers' comments above that she did not survive. I had hoped she would. Get snuggled in bed, grab some tissues and hot tea and make an evening of this book. When you are done take a look at your life and count your blessings.



3. I loved this little book the first time I read it a few years ago. It's the sad, true story of William and Janice Burns and their struggle with AIDS. Janice tells her heartbreaking story in a clear, honest voice and there is little window dressing on the tragedy of this tale. It's so easy to identify with the Burns, they are so like anyone you would have gone to college with. I'm sad to learn of Janice's death, but I'm glad her mother has posted on here. Janice's words have touched many lives, far more than many other more superficial things in life.



4. This book was wonderfully written, yet extremely sad. A story of two very young, professional, and COURAGOUS people. What stands out most to me, is their courage. If I had found myself in their shoes, I could never handle it as Janice and her husband did. They accepted their fate and bravely lived life to the fullest. I see that Janice's mother has posted here. Your daughter was an inspiration. May she rest in the arms of our Lord
   Traci



5. The story of a loving couple that live and love a full life in the shadow of being HIV-positive.

4 comments about House Calls: Recollections of a Family Physician.

1. "House Calls" is a thinly veiled autobiography, of a boy, orphaned at fifteen, who grows up to become a pioneer in the field of family practice medicine. Born and raised in California, Thomas L. Stern, after a stint in the navy, finds himself in the navy's V-12 program assigned to medical school in Salem, Oregon. After med school with his bride, Gladys, he begins his practice in a small rural town where his house calls begin in earnest. The author's recounting of his cases and adventures will make you laugh and sometimes cry. It will make you long for that time before HMO's when doctors knew their patients, were part of the family and made house calls.

   In 1960, with Gladys, three kids, a several pets in tow and armed with years of experience in rural Oregon, Dr. Stern heads back to California where he sets up his medical practice in Manhattan Beach, becomes the technical advisor on the television show, Marcus Welby, M.D., and creates a residency program in family practice at Santa Monica Hospital.

   A page turning read, "House Calls" is an endearing, humorous and sometimes tragic look at life through the eyes of a family physician. This is a book people will be talking about long after they've read it.




2. This is a great read for both the physician and the patient. Its stories are brief,interesting,humorous, and easily understood. A very pleasant experience to be enjoyed by all. Best wishes, Archie W. Bedell, M.D., Ph.D. Director Emeritus, Mercy Health Partners Family Practice Residency Program, Toledo, OH



3. The author practiced family medicine in rural Oregon and Southern California for over twenty years: his reflections and memoirs tell of delivering babies, struggling with heart attack victims and healing challenges, and becoming involved in his patients' lives. House Calls is a warm account of personal challenges and healing.



4. Dr. Thomas Stern's book "House Calls" is a stimulating story of rural medical practice in the 1950's and urban practice in the 1960's. It begins with excerpts from his personal story which are touching and inspiring. He went from being an orphan teenager on his own to a well respected physician. He began his practice in rural Oregon where he had many great adventures. The descriptions of his travails are funny and to the point. He cared for a wide variety of patients and acquired a great insight into the human condition. He describes the priorities and struggles of a young doctor with a growing family and a large practice. His personal, as well as, career aspirations are clearly described. There are many funny moments in the book and some of heartbreak. His joys and sorrows and the misfortunes and successes experienced by his patients are discussed in a very sensitive and caring way.

   The years in California provide insight into the visionary efforts of Dr. Stern, a pioneer in the specialty of Family Practice. He developed one of the early residency programs for family doctors in the Los Angeles area and worked for several years as the technical consultant to the hit TV series, Marcus Welby, M.D.

   Most readers will be lay people who will gain insight into the workings of a caring physician's heart and mind from the book. As a former rural and later urban family doctor myself, I can attest to the validity of the human drama which Dr. Stern so ably describes. Dr. Stern has textured this book with the art, as well as, the science of medicine as it was practiced in the 1950's and 1960's and provided us all with a good read.

   V. Franklin Colon, M.D.

No comments about How Adult Stem Cell Therapies Saved My Life: Medicine's Best-Kept Secret Can Save Your Life, Too.

No comments about Incision: A Surgeon's Memoirs.

1 comments about Snowshoe and Lancet: Memoirs of a Frontier Newfoundland Doctor.

1. Dr. Ecke's accounts are told with a bit of sterility, but he certainly enjoys his time in Newfoundland. It was a time when medical cures were limited, and the rural diet was a "made do" affair, but the people's spirit is contrasted against the stark landscape. Recommended read, especially for those familiar with the area or with ties to Notre Dame Bay, NF

5 comments about All Things Herriot: James Herriot and His Peaceable Kingdom.

1. I bought this book, sight-unseen, on the name alone. I was very disappointed to find that it read like a college term paper where the student has to fill up a given amount of space and spends most of there time stating the obvious. I feel this book just capitilizes on the Herriot name (a little irreverently, I might add) and nothing more.



2. All Things Herriot: James Herriot and His Peaceable Kingdom is just what its title implies: a comprehensive overview of all of the works of James Herriot (pen name of James Alfred Wight),skillfully interwoven with a biography of the famous veterinarian/writer. The book's author, Sanford Sternlicht, is a professor of English at Syracuse University and was for a time a Visiting Fellow at York University; his perspective on Herriot and on his beloved Yorkshire is informed and fine-tuned, and the tone of All Things Herriot is on the whole warm and appreciative. Sternlicht examines all of Herriot's major works, as well as his compilations and juvenile publications. He points out the unifying themes in all these works in a very clear and direct way -- the recurrent archetypal stories of birth, life, and death (which, as archetypes, will forever have universal appeal and will stand up well to repeated readings), and Herriot's message that suffering (animal and human) is "...the great, perennial challenge to all our humanity. Our response to suffering is ultimately how, as societies and individuals, we are to be judged." (All Things Herriot, p.76) Other facets of Herriot's appeal, which Sternlicht brings to the fore so well, include his beautifully-drawn and intricate portraits of the Yorkshire people, and of course, the animals, as well as Herriot's seemingly limitless store of heart-wrenching, gorgeous descriptions of the wild beauty of Yorkshire itself. This critical/literary biography never talks down to the reader, and more than once I pulled out my trusty dictionary to ascertain the full meaning of a passage -- but I enjoy learning new things and I'm sure that most readers will find this a stimulating read! Sternlicht's style is direct and immediate and colorful (not unlike Herriot's!), and I found it a joy to read. It made me want to re-read all the Herriot books, armed as I am with so much new understanding of Herriot and his world. This is a must for all Herriot fans and for those who have yet to discover his work. It is a fascinating and thorough portrait of not only a caring healer, a professional in his field, but (amazingly) a very gifted storyteller as well.



3. I would just like to say that I have been a fan of the great James Herriot and his writings for many years. His books have transported me to places of green pastures and bittersweet memories of the English countryside and the animals that lived there. This book, "All Things Herriot: James Herriot and His Peaceable Kingdom" has captured the reality behind the man who had brought us down those craggy pathways to the sweet, heartwrentching stories of our animal friends. Thank you for this book and for helping us to better know the man behind it all.



4. This book can not be considered non-fiction. The book is full of inaccuracies. So many in fact that the book is useless as a biography of Alf Wight aka James Herriot. Sternlicht shows Wight graduating college in 1937 but in another part of the book the date is listed as 1938. The correct date is 1939. The author also claims that Wight was in the RAF from 1943-1945 when it was actually 1941-1943. He even has the name of his son wrong listing it as Nicholas James when it's James Alexander. There are many more inaccuracies in this book which makes it wise to avoid reading it.



5. The author of this ' book ' is a part-time professor of English. You would think with this in mind that he might have bothered to get his facts correct. James Herriot was a wonderful man, and deserved his story to be told with accuracy. The author of this book should be ashamed. Don't waste your money, there are so many better things to read.

5 comments about Sam: The Boy Behind The Mask.

1. This is a marvelous story of love, devotion and courage. This is the story of Sam Lightner, who has faced more setbacks and pain as a teen than most of us will confront in a lifetime. He's an extraordinary young man, in every sense of the word. Where does this marvelous courage come from? At least in part, from a wonderful family that truly shows the meaning of the term "unconditional" love. This is also the story of the medical professionals who sought to help Sam, often in the face of opposition from colleagues who said the boy was beyond help.

   This is also a story marvelously told by Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Hallman. His style is as clear as glass. He has obviously put in long hours to gain the trust of the Lightners and the medical professionals, and has managed to probe beneath the surface to recreate their hopes, doubts and fears at critical moments during the story. Yet, except for the afterword, Hallman never writes in the first person. Throughout this narrative, he is the unseen observer, who has the grace, humility and good sense to let the story unfold on its own terms.




2. This is the extraordinary story of Sam Lightner, a boy who showed me more about beauty and courage than anyone I've ever known. He has the toughness and persistence of any *ten* adults, and his parents and brother and sister are simply angels. The author's top-notch reporting and soulful writing make for an enlightening read.

   I'm usually more of a "library rat" than a book buyer, but this is one book I'm adding to my personal collection. Read Sam's amazing story, and pass it on to your family and friends.




3. This story will touch your heart in an incredibe way! The author reaches inside you and grabs your heart, in order to take you from the day of his birth, when Sam's problems started, though his recovery process, after his surgery. The book is so well written and it invites you to view Sam's experiences in an up-close and personal way. If you want to learn about what life really means, or if you have a teenager that feels self-conscious, read this. This book makes you realize that inspiration can come from anywhere and that you should count your blessings and be happy for what God has given you. Learn from Sam and live.



4. Sam Lightner was born with a horribly deforming vascular tumor on the left side of his face that was so disfiguring and otherworldly that an adult at a Halloween party complimented for his marvelous costume. This is the kind of situation that Sam has lived with since he was an infant - the stares, the laughter, the shock, the misunderstandings. If any story teaches the lesson of appreciating a person's heart rather than his appearance, it is this one.

   Sam was born with a large vascular tumor on the left side of his place that progressively compromised not only his appearance but also his basic vital functions including breathing and eating. It took a few courageous physicians to treat his condition. Drs. Marler and Mulleken at Boston Children's and Dr. Wehby in Portland are a few of the doctors that enabled Sam to have a fighting chance. What makes this book such a compelling read is not only the heroics of Sam's physicians but the courage of Sam and his family. Hallman delivers Sam's struggle to fit in with such an emotional impact that I had to quit reading the book in parts to take a breather. Sam's family is portrayed as truly remarkable, and their handling of Sam's problems is a lesson to be learned by all.

   Unfortunately, the book leaves us hanging (not the author's fault) because Sam's story is not finished. He most likely will undergo further plastic surgery to shape his face, and he may undergo additional operations if his tumor returns.

   Hopefully, this book can teach us a little about how to give respect to those like Sam who need support rather than the stares we often give them.




5. This book is an excellent reading assignment for a student who thinks they want to be a doctor, especially a pediatrician or surgeon. It is a good choice to use in differentiating the curriculum for a gifted student in a regular health occupations classroom. My students enjoyed it very much.

1 comments about The Bizarre Careers of John R. Brinkley.

1. I would highly recommend this biography to anyone! Imagine a movie about Dr. Brinkley starring Robin Williams............

5 comments about Mom's Marijuana: Insights About Living.

1. You might think that the title of my review refers to this man's life changing experience, but in fact I'm speaking of the life changing experience that has been reading this book. Dan Shapiro truly is a brilliant man and he wrote a complex, insightful book. I think the title is misleading, but the story more than makes up for it. It's almost as if the book is interactive; it makes you think back about many things, and can be very humorous at times. When he said he knew his daughter wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for his mother's talking to a stranger, it took me a while to realize he was talking about the woman in that first waiting room telling his mother to save sperm. I like that, that way that Daniel Shapiro has about writing this book. It was one of my favorite books, if not my favorite book, that I have ever read, and I would absolutely love to see a sequel of some sort. (This is the kind of book that once you're finished reading you feel like you've known the author all your life and you wish to meet him.)



2. I picked this book up in the biography section of my library.
   I was about to have my knee operated on and wondered if I could find a good book to read during the days in bed not moving. Well, I was moved by this book.
   It is one of the best books I have ever read.
   You almost feel like you know Dan through his setbacks and triumphs.
   You'll laugh. You'll cry. You will fall in love with this wonderful book.



3. My 19 year old son is going through cancer treatment, and by chance a friend loaned me this book. It is a wonderful reference for anyone who has a young relative going through cancer treatment.



4. A must read if you've ever known anyone diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease.

   Helped me understand what my own son was enduring.




5. When Dan Shapiro was 21 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that automatically changed his life and left him with the typical battles of chemotherapy, surgery and all its side effects. Yet being the son of delightful, highly energetic and incredibly optimistic parents helped him battle the odds and exceed the life expectations the doctors set for him. The title of the book comes from his mother actually growing marijuana to help with the anorexia and nausea that his chemo sessions left him with. Though not a drug advocate, mom is an expert gardner and grows bushes of cannibus that would make any drug user happy for the rest of his life. His parents help is always to the extreme and its hilarious the measures they take to ensure that their son's cancer not take over his life.
   The other wonderful part of this story is just the progression that he makes with each chapter- finding love, graduating medical school, buying a house, and of course beating the disease. Shapiro is warm, compassionate, yet downright hilarious. I couldn't help but read outloud some of the passages to my boyfriend such as when his parents decide he should donate his sperm, or when his mom tells his new girlfriend that they have pot drying in their attic. This book is just wonderful. You will have no problem enjoying it.

No comments about The House of Hope and Fear: Life in a Big City Hospital.