NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The Garden District Book Shop is pleased to announce an evening celebrating the release of New Orleans native and renowned cardiovascular surgeon Dr. James Ciaravella Jr.’s recent historical work, “Charity’s Children: The Long Days and Nights of the Iron Men,” on May 25 at The Rink (2727 Prytania St.)
“Charity’s Children’ is a love letter to the once great ‘Big Charity’ hospital, recounting the stories of people trained there— and those who were healed by her staff.
More personally, the book recounts the true story of Ciaravella’s journey to become a cardiovascular surgeon, from early years at Tulane medical school through his year as chief resident at Charity Hospital, which is one of the world’s largest teaching hospitals. The book is set in the early days of cardiac surgery, the late 1960s through 1970s, when the technology of today was not yet available. Readers will be taken through Ciaravella’s past from his first low-level intern round-the-clock tasks and duties to his later role as teacher with life-and-death responsibilities. Initially, Ciaravella planned to only document his own Charity Hospital experiences or those that had been passed down from his Charity-trained surgeon father. However, after speaking to his colleagues, he decided to include the first-hand accounts of thirity of his contemporaries who were either chief residents when he was an intern or are now-practicing surgeons that were interns or junior residents when he was chief resident.
The book discussion and signing will be hosted on Thursday, May 25 in the atrium at The Rink at 6:00 PM. During the event, Ciaravella will read excerpts from his work as he walks guests through his career and experiences at New Orleans’ Charity Hospital. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A segment and there will be an opportunity after for guest’s to have him sign and personalize copies of his book.
Tickets for the evening are available on EventBrite for $25 and include a copy of “Charity’s Children: The Long Days and Nights of the Iron Men” and snacks and drinks provided by The Garden District Book Shop.
All state-mandated COVID safety protocols will be in place and masks are required. Due to COVID-19 restrictions this event has limited capacity.
For more information on The Garden District Book Shop, please visit www.gardendistrictbookshop.com.
