pickThis was really good. It was kind of slow at the start, and it doesn't help at all that Kinyoun was kind of an asshole (however right he was about needing to contain the spread of plague). Once Blue was called in and some things started being done competently, it became pretty riveting. It's a bit sad that Blue became bitter toward the end of his career -- but he had, in the end, a career to be very proud of, and his work in SF was exemplary.
I'm developing myself a new public health hero in the form of Rupert Blue! I love the fact that he may not have been the most academically able person, but he was able to succeed where others failed because he made connections, listened to people's needs, and looked at the evidence beyond his own prejudices.
Thanks to whichever Litten I follow read this lately -- I'm really in the mood for non-fiction right now, and of course I'm always interested in all things to do with infectious diseases. Not sure how much the science part will be in the foreground here, but honestly sometimes that's the most interesting -- where biology meets how people live.
pickIn 1900, bubonic plague popped up in San Francisco, initially in an ethnically Chinese man. What followed won‘t surprise any of us in light of our pandemic experience—racism, denial, political wrangling, and more abhorrent behavior, working against genuine attempts to stop the disease. Completely fascinating.
When I read this back in the summer and discovered Dr. Blue was laid to rest in SC, I knew I had to go and pay respects. So we made a little road trip today. Thank you, Dr. Blue for the work that you did. We might not be here, if you hadn‘t.
More on Dr. Blue: https://www.historynet.com/americas-heroic-microbe-hunter.htm
pickI never knew how narrowly the US escaped the bubonic plague. Little do most peoplx know that it happened right in the early 1900s, in San Francisco! This book tells you all about it. Politics played a big part in downplaying the danger, just as it continues to do so today with Covid 19; racism played a role as well, as it still does today. You‘ll never think of the Golden Gate the same way again.
This guy basically stopped bubonic plague in San Francisco in the early 1900s. I‘d say that‘s a major life accomplishment! He discovered the connection between rats and fleas, and fought back hard. When Influenza hit in 1918, he once again made a big difference. He was Surgeon General from 1918-1920. His headstone reads only: “His work for humanity took him to many lands but he came home to sleep his long last sleep.”
In the Mission District, two young boys playing in an unused cellar discovered the corpse of a rat. Emulating their father, who was an undertaker, they performed a mock funeral service before picking up the animal and putting it into a shoebox as a casket. They dug a hole with their hands and buried the it, completing the ritual. They then ran back to their house at 2888 Mission Street, unaware that their clothes were crawling with infected fleas.
What I see makes me tremble with fear. I see the buildings toppling over, big pieces of masonry falling, and from the street below I hear the cries and screams of men and women and children. I remain speechless, thinking that I am in some dreadful nightmare, and for something like 40 seconds I stand while the buildings fall…and during those 40 seconds I think of 40,000 different things. All that I have ever done in my life passes before me.
