Healer: The Remarkable Life of a Hometown Country Doctor

When most people think about a trip to the doctor, they envision a sterile office where they'll be examined by a near-stranger. But not Jim Reed's patients in his rural Illinois hometown of Farmington ( pop. 2,500 ). They knew they'd be meeting with someone who'd known them-and their family, friends and neighbors-for more than fifty years. More than a fascinating tale of an unusually skilled and compassionate physician, Healer chronicles Dr. Reed's youth in a family with thirteen children during the Great Depression, as well as the rich relationships between the Reed family and the residents of one American small town over the second half of the 20th century. Drawing upon remarkable stories from Dr. Reed and in-depth interviews with members of six families treated for six generations, the author-Dr. Reed's younger brother Rudy-has captured the essence of a revered dying breed: a totally dedicated country doctor.