I press my nose against the glass of the Ford’s rear window and peek in. I see my two sons snuggled up against their mother, each with a leg thrown over her. I want to join them and hope that I have not somehow forsaken my place.
I climb back into the car. I pull off the shoulder and ease the long nose of the Ford back onto the highway. As the needle reaches 65 miles per hour, I think of the young man from New York who six years ago headed to Johnson City. I think of his distress, his suffering, as he sped home, struggling to breathe.
I think if his voyage were to happen today, he might find a community in Johnson City better equipped to deal with him, to accept him. I have faith in the town and its people.
I remember the acts of human kindness that illumine our world.
Author’s Note
I AM DEEPLY INDEBTED TO my patients and their families for giving me so much of their time, their assistance and their stories. Their excitement for this undertaking and their support and urging have been invaluable. I would like to have acknowledged each one by name, but I cannot.
Many persons assisted me in researching this book; in particular I thank my dear friends in Tennessee: Debbie Byers, Anand and Madhu Karnad, Jim and Barbara Farnum, Earl and Janice Greene, Allen Hawkins, Martha Whaley, Lana Renfro and Joyce Larimer. Also thanks to Carolyn Sliger, Colin Baxter, Carol Ware, and the many doctors and nurses at both the VA and the Johnson City Medical Center who gave me their time and talked about this period in the history of our community. For bringing me a new level of understanding of AIDS, I thank Frank Robinson, Mary Kay Bearden, James Searcy, Jim Wilson, Della Nabhan, Sandy Pomerantz and John Chappie. Stuart Levitz, Jo Seibel, Kris Davis, Irene Connelly, Hilary Hirst and Karen Marasco read the manuscript or parts of it and gave me helpful advice. And thanks also to Bill, Jim and Bob. Connie Brothers of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop served as friend, guide and reader. Sandra Hernandez, Deb West and Melanie Whiley assisted me in manuscript preparation. During 1992 I was supported by the Copernicus Society of America in the form of a James Michener Fellowship.
I was blessed in having Mary Evans, my literary agent, “discover” me in Iowa; it was her encouragement that led to the book proposal for My Own Country; George Hodgman, my then editor at Simon & Schuster, had a singular vision of the story to be told and coaxed it out of me. To both Mary and George I will be eternally grateful. Eric Steel, my new editor at Simon & Schuster, has shepherded me through the completion of the manuscript, and his calmness and quiet confidence have been soothing. Early on I was fortunate to have the advice of Robin Desser at Vintage as my paperback editor.
Lastly, I am grateful to John Irving, who gave me advice, friendship and the wonderful example of his work ethic.
Abraham Verghese
El Paso
November 1993
About the Author
Abraham Verghese is Professor and Senior Associate Chair for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He has served on the faculty at East Tennessee State University, the University of Iowa, Texas Tech University, and the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, where he was the founding director of the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics and where he holds an adjunct professorship. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he is the author of The Tennis Partner, a New York Times Notable Book, and the bestselling novel Cutting for Stone. His essays and short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Story, Granta, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere, and he is a regular correspondent for TheAtlantic.com. He lives in Palo Alto, California.
www.abrahamverghese.com
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Copyright © 1994 by Abraham Verghese
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