September 17th, 2007

I’m off to Gold Hill, Nevada tomorrow to take part in the Old West lecture series there. I’ll be speaking on the subject of women doctors of the Old West. I met an interesting gentlemen this past week while I was at the Capitol Public Radio studios. He had just completed a trip to Africa where he was part of a program that helped educate people about STDs and the HIV virus. The teenagers there are given false information about the virus and are being told (by their teachers no less) that the HIV virus is found in condoms. I was shocked to learn the odd things some believe. It reminded me of when I was doing the research for the book The Doctor Wore Petticoats. I learned that men and women on the frontier who were suffering with an STD believed the water around Lake Tahoe could heal them. They soaked themselves in the water around Emerald Bay. I can’t help but think about that whenever I drive by that area and see people swimming. Very interesting.