by Ann Beach | Dec 12, 2024 | Medicine
Robert Lewis Stevenson (1850-1894) was one of the best-known authors of his day. He was a paradox; he traveled widely, yet was weak and sickly all of his life. He spent much of his life in bed or in a sickroom, yet he wrote wonderful adventures like Kidnapped and...
by Ann Beach | Nov 21, 2024 | Medicine
First of all, what in the world is a mad stone? Smooth, odd-shaped, unusually colored, of almost any size, mad stones are miraculous objects possessing healing powers. They are actually bezoars, hairball-like concretions found in the stomachs of animals such as deer...
by Ann Beach | Oct 16, 2024 | Medicine
Famous writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was the first American writer to fully support himself by his writing. He single-handedly started the detective genre, as well as the science fiction genre. He is famous for his mysteries and Gothic horror stories. When we...
by Ann Beach | Oct 1, 2024 | Medicine
The famous American author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) lived from 1835 to 1910. In spite of being a life-long serious cigar smoker, he was quite healthy until late in life, when he developed heart trouble. However, illness, particularly infectious diseases, changed...
by Ann Beach | Sep 12, 2024 | Medicine
I’ve always been curious about why famous writers became writers, and why they wrote what they wrote. Clearly, our life experiences shape what we write, and we as writers are always admonished to “write what you know”. As a doctor, I am fascinated by illness and...
