AUBURN — Dr. Chuck Radis, the author of “Go by Boat,” plans to talk about his medical practice on the islands of Casco Bay in his newly released sequel, “Island Medicine,” at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, at Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring St.
His writing has been described as a cross between James Herriot’s “All Creatures Great and Small” and “Doc Martin.” In a career which spans island medicine to rheumatology, from public health work in a UN refugee settlement to advocacy for Medicare for all, Radis’s writing focuses on the importance of empathy, respect and humor in patient care, according to a news release from the library.
Following graduation from Bates College in 1976 and subsequently becoming an osteopathic physician, Radis, with his wife Sandra and daughter Kate, moved to Peaks Island in 1985, where he began his medical practice. Traveling by police boat, ferry and his own l6-foot skiff, Radis performed more than 100 house-calls a year on Peaks and on the neighboring islands in Casco Bay, in addition to clinic days on Chebeague Island and Peaks Island.
His practice was featured in Maine Streets and Back Roads of New England on WCVTV in Boston, and was also the subject of numerous newspaper accounts.
Although he eventually left his island practice and completed a fellowship in rheumatology and clinical immunology, he returned to live on Peaks Island and has commuted to his mainland medical practice for nearly three decades. He has continued to be intimately involved in health care issues affecting island residents, and still performs house calls.
In recent years Radis’s writing has become more eclectic, reflecting his wide-ranging interests, from botany to United Nations work in a settlement in Uganda, to essays on empathy in medicine. He has co-written a flower guide, “The Flowering Plants of Casco Bay.”
Radis is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, and continues to practice rheumatology.
This program is part of the library’s Adult Summer Reading Program, Oceans of Possibilities, wherein adults explore Maine’s waterways.
For more information about this or other programs or to register for this presentation (requested for planning purposes), visit the Events page at auburnpubliclibrary.org, or call the Reference Desk at 207-333-6640, ext. 4.
There are a limited number of copies of “Go By Boat” available to the first few who register.