Brooklyn Transplant

Musing of a Contemporary Pathologist

Medicine in Literature

  The first known physician was the Egyptian Imhotep, who is thought to have been active in the years close to 2625 BCE. He was the chancellor to King Djoser, high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis and… Continue Reading →

Are We a Fearful People?

                      To be persuasive, we must be believable;  to be believable, we must be credible;  to be credible, we must be truthful.                 … Continue Reading →

Chanteuse: Karen Akers

I first visited Chicago in the late 1980s to attend a meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). The AASLD was founded in Chicago in 1950 by Hans Popper—my teacher, then colleague and friend, who… Continue Reading →

On Listening to Mahler’s 2nd Symphony for the First Time, Again

Classical music first became important to me when I was a student at Brooklyn College in the late 1950s, although I heard music, especially opera, which my grandfather loved, from childhood. My piano lessons, of course, included compositions by Bach… Continue Reading →

Wanderer

       It has been a few years since the idea of writing an essay about Sterling Hayden first came to my mind and I began collecting articles about him. I am not sure why I felt the need to… Continue Reading →

… and now there are none …

         Two days ago, April 16, 2024, Carl Erskine died at the age of 97.          “Oisk” or “The Oisk,” as he was popularly named, was the last of the great Brooklyn Dodgers team of the 1950s, and one of… Continue Reading →

Getting a medical test result – how long should it take?

On Thursday, March 14, a skin tumor I have had for a while was biopsied a second time prior to resection. I was not concerned since, based on the macroscopic (“gross,” “naked eye”) appearance, I know it is benign. Gross… Continue Reading →

Heartless hospitals – part 2 (or multiple tirades prompted by a recent David Brooks column)

I have long been a fan of David Brooks, both in the pages of The New York Times and on his weekly PBS’ News Hour commentary every Friday. He is thoughtful and tries to consider alternative viewpoints. For almost 20… Continue Reading →

Thunderbird – a short story

(published in the Spring 2022 issue of the literary magazine El Portal).     Thunderbird Marty lost the first love of his life to the son of the district attorney of Brooklyn. At first the family chauffeur, driving a long,… Continue Reading →

Hooked (on ice cream)

It’s a balmy late-September evening at Mount Vernon. After a particularly busy day for the retired President, crowded with meetings and tasks, including answering President Adams’ letter by providing some suggestions to calm the ongoing squabbles between Jefferson and Hamilton…. Continue Reading →

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