Caring and writing for everyone

“I just want people to get lost in the story and at the end kind of sag and say, 'That was fun.' It's hardly my desire for them to sit and think, 'What a great literary image.'” – Michael Palmer

Palmer, born on this day in 1942, was an American physician and author whose novels are often referred to as medical thrillers. 

Palmer once claimed he never wanted to be a writer and didn’t think he had much "flair" for it, even though several made the New York Times Best Seller List and his works have now been translated into 35 languages. His 1991 book Extreme Measures was adopted into a 1996 film.

A graduate of Wesleyan University, he said he was enticed into trying his hand at writing after fellow Wesleyan alum and doctor Robin Cook wrote the hugely successful book Coma.    He said he thought that if Cook could write a novel, he could too. 

Ultimately, up until his death from a heart attack                              

 in 2013, he wrote 21 of them – the last 3 published posthumously.  But, he continued practicing medicine the entire time, noting:   “It seemed to me that I was put on earth to take care of people. That is what I should be doing, and I never got tired of it.”

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