Description

Join the Levis JCC Sandler Center as they welcome David Biro, Author of This Magnificent Dappled Sea. In a small Italian village, nine-year-old Luca Taviano catches a stubborn cold and is subsequently diagnosed with leukemia. After an exhaustive search, a match turns up 3000 miles away in the form of an unlikely donor: a rabbi in Brooklyn, New York, who is suffering from a debilitating crisis of faith. As Luca’s young nurse risks her career and races against time to help save the spirited redheaded boy, she uncovers terrible secrets from World War II — secrets that reveal how a Catholic boy could have Jewish genes. Can inheritance be transcended by accidents of love? That is the question at the heart of This Magnificent Dappled Sea, a novel that challenges the idea of identity and celebrates the ties that bind us together. David Biro has a medical degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in Literature from Oxford University. He is a Professor of Dermatology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center where he also teaches medical humanities. Dr. Biro has written two highly acclaimed books: One Hundred Days: My Unexpected Journey from Doctor to Patient (2000) and The Language of Pain: Finding Words, Compassion, and Relief (2010). He has published articles in The New York Times, London Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Slate. Individual Program, $25