'To get lost in the story'

“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 date in 1942, was an American physician and author whose novels are often referred to as medical thrillers.  He 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 Bestseller List and his works have now been translated into 35 languages. 

 

 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 Coma.    He said he thought if Cook could write a novel, he could too.  Ultimately, he wrote 24 of them – the last 3 written with his son Daniel and published after his death from a heart attack in 2013. 

 

 Despite his writing success 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.”