A Letter From Our 2020 Co-Chairs
This year, we cannot guarantee that we can safely physically gather for Celebration of Learning. Instead, we are inviting you to join us in spirit! We are working hard to develop a unique virtual experience to continue this beloved tradition. On Friday, November 6, no matter what shape it may take, we look forward to joining together to champion our library. Our author, Dr. Abraham Verghese, will also share his unique perspective as an infectious disease physician who’s acclaimed novel, My Own Country, focuses on the impact of a health crisis on a community.
Celebration of Learning is the library’s only fundraising event and we need your support. In these challenging times, the need for our services has never been greater. And frankly, with steep decreases in our funding, we will depend on donors like you now more than ever.
We look forward to enjoying this inspiring, somewhat unconventional, Celebration of Learning with you and thank you for giving to one of our community’s greatest treasures, your library.
John Behal and DeeDee Glimcher
2020 Celebration of Learning Co-Chairs
Healing Power of Community
Dr. Abraham Verghese is a nationally bestselling author and a prominent voice in medicine with a uniquely humanistic view of the future of healthcare. His warmth and vision as well as his world-class gifts as a storyteller make him a powerful speaker both to healthcare professionals and the patient in all of us.
Dr. Verghese has a deep understanding of the new tools being placed in doctors’ and patient’s hands, but he also has a deep faith in the human hand itself as one of the most powerful tools in a doctor’s kit. He grounds his vision of technological progress in a humanistic commitment to listening to the patient’s story and providing what the patient most wants — a true caregiver. This dual-pronged approach, incorporating both an appreciation of tech developments and a profound commitment to the relationship between doctor and patient, makes Abraham a leading voice in the discussion about what quality care means now and in the future.
In addition to being a deep thinker about the future of healthcare, Dr. Verghese is a phenomenally successful author with tremendous popular appeal. His novel, Cutting for Stone, was a runaway hit, topping the New York Times bestseller list for over two years and earning a movie deal. His upcoming book, The Maramon Convention, is highly anticipated.
Dr. Verghese has served on the faculty of many universities, including the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio, where he was the founding director of the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is a Master of the American College of Physicians, and was elected to the Association of American Physicians, as well as the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.