Add Another Book to the List

Unfortunately, the "Books I Plan to Read" list grows much faster than the "Books I've Read Recently" list. Today, Dennis Prager interviewed David Oshinski, professor of Modern American History at the University of Texas. His new book is titled Polio: An American Story. It sounds like a great read.

The book covers a wide range of issues around the Polio experience of the 1950's -- the terror the disease inspired, the dramatic race to find a cure, the rivalry between Jonas Saulk and Albert Sabin, the innovations in fundraising brought about by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the March of Dimes, such as the use of "poster children" and orginizing large numbers of volunteers, and changes in analytic and testing methods that grew out of the research.

Things I learned from the interview:

Virtually no government money went into research for the cure. Funds were raised almost exclusively through private donations.

Polio was much more common in suburban, antiseptic environments than in inner cities and industrial areas. Kids that were exposed to a greater number of other germs and pathogens were more resistant to getting the disease.

The fear of polio and it's perception as an epidemic was much greater than the diseases actual impact.