Patricia Meisol: "A Heart Afire"

Patricia Meisol will discuss the life of pioneering children's heart doctor Helen Taussig, who lived and worked in Baltimore, as part of the Pratt Maryland Department’s Let’s Talk About Maryland author series.

In A Heart Afire, Patricia Meisol renders a moving portrait of the indomitable pediatrician and global patient activist Helen Taussig (1898–1986), who famously gathered and publicized evidence linking thalidomide to birth defects, leading to US drug safety laws. Taussig also developed the Blalock-Taussig shunt (along with Alfred Blalock) for infants with congenital heart defects. Spanning Taussig's childhood in Boston, her struggle with dyslexia, her progressive hearing loss, her research contributions, and the founding of her own fledgling children's heart clinic, this book chronicles Taussig's ambition, tenacity, and formidable work ethic. As Meisol shows, Taussig not only saved lives but also set a bold precedent for other women doctors in the twentieth century, who were largely excluded from medicine.

Meticulously researched and intimately told, A Heart Afire is unique in its use of a fifty-year-long campaign by Taussig's followers for a worthy memorial portrait and shows how views of women doctors have evolved. Meisol reveals Taussig as an authentic American hero, one who embodies the Emersonian ethic of developing oneself, following the processes of nature, and serving the public. A fiercely independent thinker, Taussig infused herself and her ideas into the medical culture, paving the way not only for other professional women but also for patients then and now to advocate for themselves. Offering an indispensable look at health care as a universal human right, A Heart Afire is a beacon and a blueprint for creating a more just and compassionate world of medicine.

About the Author:

Patricia Meisol is a narrative nonfiction writer and formal journalist who has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize multiple times. She previously served in the US Department of Health and Human Services.

About the Program:

• Doors will open to registered attendees at 6 pm.
• Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) after 4pm. Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program.

​​​​​​

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, United States