python


The Pig & the Python follows the post WWII “Baby Boom” generation across time. From Mouseketeers to John Kennedy, the Vietnam Era to the prosperous Reagan years, this book chronicles an active life sidelined by disease for twenty years, yet defying the odds it details a path to recovery. It’s a kiss and tell look at the CDC and NIH and follows the political history of an epidemic swept under the rug by the medical/insurance/pharmaceutical cartel endearingly referred to as Goliath. It exposes the dirty side of medicine as physicians in their own words violate the oath and choose business to healing. This narrative precedes the age of COVID and explores the tragedy of a Post Viral Syndrome. It outlines decades of political activism and paves the way for future victims to address their demise. While grim at times, academic at others, its overall sense of humor and humanity is never lost.

“I laughed so hard at your way with words. YOU are astonishingly funny and your insightful yet benevolent and poignant humor speaks the truth more accurately than any other form of communication. Keryn D.

“I couldn’t put it down.You explain how this feels better than anything I have ever read. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you, I am so grateful that this story has been told. Julia A., PhD.

“I don’t envision any patient that would be disappointed with (his) riveting style of writing and brash honesty… it’s a book about nature, about love, about life… that will both entertain and enlighten, and one that you will want to pass on to your friends and relatives. Gail K.

350 Pages with 83 color photographs

34.95 plus tax

Free Shipping

Knowledge is Power

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Baby Boom Memoir Details
a Lifetime of Activism From
Vietnam to the Politics of
Disease in this Era of
Long Haul COVID

Born Into prosperity and apple pie, coming of age in the Summer of Love, radicalized with the assassination of Robert Kennedy, Woodstock, and the Vietnam War, The Pig & the Python tracks a lifetime riddled with triumph and rage to emerge and blossom within the sovereignty of Vermont.

In Vermont, a successful businessman inspired by flying monkeys, for real, is struck down by a debilitating often dismissed illness. 20 years later after losing his business, his money, and his standing in the community, he emerges as a support group leader with bold new medical activism.

For decades, millions of people living with ME/CFS faced skepticism, scarce research funding, and almost no medical recognition. The Pig & the Python, examines the personal cost, political decisions, and patient advocacy efforts that shaped the history of this complex disease. As growing numbers of Long Haul COVID patients experience symptoms similar to ME/CFS, this book offers a historical context for understanding current research and healthcare challenges.

The author traces the evolution of medical thinking about post viral illnesses, highlights pivotal moments in public health policy, and examines how patient advocates helped drive scientific progress despite decades of institutional barriers as physicians in their own words chose business to healing.

Our story shares a rare unforeseen “recovery” with guidance and tips, details a powerful presentation for the Obama/Biden Transition Team that preserved this disease in history and features a life reborn on the other side. The personal chronicle then picks up the pieces of a shattered life, steps outside of the rage, and forges ahead with characteristic aplomb.

The book is intended for historians, patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, and anyone interested in the intersection of boomer history, medicine, science, and public policy.

For review copies, interviews, or speaking engagements, contact:

Rik Carlson

rx@monkeyswithwings.com