A Book for Boomers

One of the positive aspects of our continuing house arrest, at least for me, has been the chance to put a dent in the pile of books at my bedside.  Let's be honest, there are only so many hours a person can devote to catching up with shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime before your ass enters into a symbiotic relationship with the couch.  Forced marches around the neighborhood at regular intervals help your circulation but it'll be June before that adipose life ring forming around your waist will be of any use.  Blubber buoyancy is so important when it comes to summertime fun on the water.

A book that was long ago recommended to me by a friend has lately proven to be a most compelling read.  Dr. Mary's Monkey, by Edward T. Haslam, is the true story of an unsolved murder of a prominent doctor, the Kennedy assassination, and a disturbing connection between the development of the polio vaccine  and soft tissue cancers.  I know, it sounds like a lot of the usual conspiracy apocrypha peddled by opportunistic crackpots but it's not.  Since the 1960's Ed Haslam has been investigating undeniable connections between cancer research at Tulane University, the NIH, Lee Harvey Oswald,  the Kennedy assassination, a cast of Cuban patriots, the mafia and a most interesting correlation of soft tissue cancers to the polio vaccine.  He carefully presents factual documents, to include autopsy reports, previously withheld police and government findings all in a straightforward logical manner leaving the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.  There are also key interviews with people who offer inside knowledge regarding the web of characters involved in these events.  It is a "stay up late" book like few others.

Those of us old enough to remember summers where our mothers insisted we rest for awhile every afternoon lest we contract polio, only later to be followed by the enormous relief offered from Dr. Salk's vaccine, will find much to consider here.  The New Orleans connection to that life altering 1963 November day in Dallas also offers many points to ponder thanks to newly discovered government documents hidden from the public for years.  The book is extremely well researched and footnoted.  Government documents, police reports and pictures are present throughout the book to support the text.

If you, like me, still have many questions about some of the defining watershed issues of our lives, this is the book for you.  Dr. Mary's Monkey is available from Amazon and other book venders.  Knock off the Netflix and buckle up for a mind blowing read guaranteed to give you pause regarding much  of what we have long thought to be true.