Healthy Stories
Health Department Publishes a Literary Journal Focusing on Public Health

By Luke Stevens

If, as they say, truth is stranger than fiction, when it comes to public health in South Florida the proof is in the true accounts published by the Miami-Dade Health Department in a collection of more than 70 vignettes and poems called “Healthy Stories.”

This award-winning series, which strives to serve as “America’s Public Health Literary Journal” is in its fourth year, and Editor-in-Chief Mort Laitner says the feedback has been positive. “The response to our stories has been phenomenal,” Laitner said.

“Our readers have told us they love the stories, even the ones that are touching and make them cry.”

The mission of the Journal is “promoting and protecting health through stories,” while “delighting readers through laughter, tears and thought.” Currently, Miami-Dade’s is the only health department in the country using literature to work medicinal magic on the mind.

The collection kicks off with Amy Tejirian’s amusing tale “Goodbye Glasses,” which documents her doctors’ efforts to fix her crossed eyes.

Tejirian recalls the torment that she suffered from other kids’ taunts at school, the humiliation of wearing an eye-patch, even going to a faith healer for help before the ultimate victory of life sans spectacles.

Tejirian covers the whole story in fewer than six pages, and sets the tone for what is to come.

Laitner is the author of the next story, an almost miraculous-sounding account of how his father survived the gas chamber during the holocaust, called “The Stairs.” Laitner, who has been chief legal counsel for the Miami-Dade County Public Health Unit since 1977, also wrote several more of the short stories in the journal, some of which are also presented in Spanish and Creole.

Reading through the stories and poems reveals certain themes — sexually transmitted diseases, mental health, smoking and addiction are all covered by various writers. But, it isn’t all doom and gloom, as there is the occasional chance to learn some fun trivia. Do you know, for example, Donald Duck’s middle name?

Susan Chetwood’s story “The American Patient” seems apropos considering the recent health care debate, as Chetwood becomes sick while visiting the United Kingdom and extols the virtues of a national healthcare system. Then, in his story “The Whatever Virus,” Laitner, perhaps unexpectedly for a book on health, extols the virtues of McDonald’s.

“Whatever.”

In “People are Strange” author John Holmes remembers sharing beers with Jim Morrison — even on one occasion when ‘The Lizard King’ s dead.     

Finally, if the poems and stories don’t hit the spot, there are also a couple of healthy recipes including Susan Elfstrom’s “Cowboy Caviar,” which hails from Splendora, Texas and sounds nothing short of delicious. 

All the stories in the book are also available online at HealthyStories.org. The editors are always happy to read the work of aspiring authors or poets, as long as the subject matter relates to health. For submissions contact amy_tejirian@doh.state.fl.us.

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