My parents raised me in a remote community nestled in on the eastern slope of the Continental Divide in western Montana. Helena may best be described as comfortable – certainly not pretentious, but the people who call it home are proud of their community and its history. A history shaped by Gold Rush days and the manifest destiny that characterized the United States in the 2nd half of the 19th century.
My father, known by his friends as Dutch, aspired to a simple life. A postal clerk by vocation, he never could resist the temptation of “just one more beer” and, at least according to my mother, the beguiling seduction of other women. Mom was far more complex and to my mind never did figure out what she wanted from life. In the end they both died of excesses – alcohol for dad, tobacco and emphysema for mom. I’ve never regretted what they were or were not, and am thankful most every day for what they gave me.
College took me to Montana State University and the University of Montana where I graduated in pre-medicine; after which, I moved to Seattle setting off the journey I’ve traveled ever since – the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque) for medical school; Brown University (Rhode Island) for residency in Family Medicine; Vashon Island, Washington (solo, private medical practice); the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Las Vegas (teaching eager learners the science and art of Medicine); the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (in Wilmington establishing a new residency, addressing health disparities, caring for patients and teaching); and back to Las Vegas (administering a medical school as well as teaching and serving my patients). The most recent segment of my professional journey carried me across the Atlantic to the University of Liverpool, where I earned a Master’s degree in Public Health.
In 1991 I married my beloved Nancy who enriches my life every single day as my best friend, literary editor, confidant and lover. Here’s a poem I wrote to her recently.
My dearest Nancy,
Deep in my heart,
There, lives my soul.
And when we met
I brought you in.
So you live there too,
Giving it the reason
to beat.
Every second,
Of every minute,
Of every hour,
Of every day.
All my love, Jim
Life experiences now persuade me to take yet another fork in my journey – crusading for health as a human right by penning medical thrillers that depict the ethos and entrepreneurialism which characterize 21st century healthcare in America and crafting non-fictional essays that challenge the medical establishment in the United States. Click on Fiction (above right About the Writer) for a glimpse of my debut novel Conversations for Paco now available at Amazon.com and Essays for a short treatise targeting the sociology of healthcare in the United States. Health is a human necessity; health is a human right!
Photo by Mayflower Lane Photography