Heroes Are Human by Bob Delaney

Title: Heroes Are Human
Author: Bob Delaney with Dave Scheiber
Foreword: Dr. Richard Mollica
Publication: City Point Press, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Inspiration/Self Help

Description: In Heroes are Human: Lessons in Resilience, Courage, and Wisdom from the COVID Front Lines, author Delaney, who has survived trauma himself, looks at how our country’s medical professionals managed to cope with stress and hardship in order to provide care to patients.

Day 11 – King's College Library

Thursday began with breakfast in Regent’s Park with Desiree and Erin. We walked in from Marylebone Road, then followed signs for a café and wound up next to some tennis courts. I had a chocolate croissant and inspected the books on a community shelf in the back. I found a book by Annie Groves that looked appealing. The others kept on walking but I returned to the dorm only to learn bad news: one of our group had tested positive and been quarantined in her room for five days. Getting Covid is no joke and being confined to one of these claustrophobic rooms as a heat wave is beginning sounded pretty grim. Everyone was somber when we met for the day’s excursion. We asked Dr. Steele what we could do for the victim and she said a second person (my next-door neighbor) also had symptoms and was going to get tested as well. I had been wearing a mask pretty steadily but now everyone from USM was told to wear one. Apparently, the Gothic Studies group has several people sick as well (I feel there is some significance there but am not sure exactly what).

Fauci, Expect the Unexpected (Life Lessons from the Great Doctor)

Title: Fauci, Expect the Unexpected
Subtitle: Ten Lessons on Truth, Service, and the Way Forward
Publication: National Geographic, hardcover, 2021
Genre: Nonfiction/Inspirational

Description: Based on interviews from a National Geographic documentary, this book from world-renowned infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci shares the lessons that have shaped his life philosophy, offering a close-up view of one of the world’s greatest medical minds as well as universal advice to live by.

France 2021, Day 2

France has mandated a Pass Sanitaire (a health pass) to enable access to cultural venues, such as museums, as well as all restaurants and bars, for employees as well as customers (it was smart - now 77% of those eligible are vaccinated). I tried very hard to get these in time for our trip, uploading our documents several times. The requirements kept changing and there were no explanations, only an automatic receipt. Last week I read the government was weeks behind in processing applications and tourists might have to take a Covid test every 72 hours. As there were several cultural destinations planned for our three days in Paris, I decided to test our luck at the Musée D’Orsay, a day in advance of our ticketed visit. The first guard consulted said we could not get in without the Pass but his nicer colleague, when I crept back a few minutes later and waved my vaccine card, said we could just show our documentation. This tracked to online advice I had seen to be polite but persistent, asking for a manager if necessary, and it has worked for us since.  It is startling to be asked by our waiters for our Pass, however, especially when eating outside. but we are glad everyone is taking precautions. 

Do you miss library book sales?

I do!  Mind you, there are hundreds of books in this house I have not had time to read.  But there is nothing as delicious as ambling into a used bookstore or going to a library book sale and finding an old treasure, discarded by the library or a patron, that is not available elsewhere.  Alternatively, sometimes one finds an appealing but unknown book or something one meant to read but had not got around to, such as The Goldfinch.  Or a handful of paperbacks to bring on vacation.

Five Things

Dr. Amy Acton, the Health Official flattening the curve in Ohio, took time out to say that Laura Ingalls Wilder helped her get through a very difficult childhood.

My newly crafted mask is not unattractive but slides down the back of my head, although I followed the specs.   A paper bag would be easier to wear!   I am not speedy enough to equip medical professionals but have made a few for family.  I doubt my nephew was thrilled to receive a mask for his 15^th birthday but he politely admired it and put it on (taking a wary glance at his reflection in a nearby window) (it wasn’t his only gift).