Over his long career, Kidder’s writing has been prolific and outstanding. The Soul of a New Machine—a book celebrated for its insight into the world of high-tech corporate America—earned him a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award in 1982. Other bestselling works include House (1985), Among Schoolchildren (1989), Old Friends (1993) and Home Town (1999). His enormously influential book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, (2003), captures two global health crises, tuberculosis and AIDS, through the eyes of a single-minded physician bent on improving the health of some of the poorest people on the planet. The story of Dr. Paul Farmer, a major force in revolutionizing international health, is a gripping and inspiring account one man’s efforts to establish clinics and hospitals—his compassion for the poor, his inner circle of true believers and, ultimately, his success in helping stem the tide of new HIV and TB infections in Haiti. Farmer is the founder of Zanmi Lasante (Creole for Partners in Health), a non-governmental organization that is the only health-care provider in the Plateau Central in Haiti.
DECEMBER 1
4 PM – 5 PM
No Boundaries - Globalizing Health Care from Haiti to California and Beyond. A panel discussion with Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Tracy Kidder.
Moderated by Michael Wilkes, UC Davis School of Medicine.
Jackson Hall, Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
DECEMBER 1
8 PM – 9:30 PM
Author’s Talk: The Problem of Goodness: The Story of Paul Farmer
Jackson Hall, Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
DECEMBER 1
9:30 PM
Book Signing by Tracy Kidder
Main Lobby, Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts
The 2008 CCBP features Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, which tells the story of Boston physician Paul Farmer as "a man who could cure the world." Kidder's book documents Farmer's Robin Hood-like fight against tuberculosis and the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus in impoverished Haiti. The themes within Mountains Beyond Mountains fit the mission of UC Davis as a Land Grant university as the institution celebrates its centennial year: the multi-disciplinary education that prepares students for a lifetime of service and that informs teaching and research efforts that address significant community and global problems, such as climate change, sustainability, inequalities in education, and rising costs of health care.
The Campus Community Book Project (CCBP) was initiated after September 11th to promote dialogue and build community by encouraging diverse members of the campus community to read the same book and attend related events. The book project advances the Offices of Campus Community Relations' mission to improve both the campus climate and community relations, to increase diversity, and to promote equity and inclusiveness. More information about the past present and future book projects and other OCCR initiatives is available on the website: http://occr.ucdavis.edu
