Brothers in Spirit: An Illustrated Talk at the Norfolk Library with Jenny Byers

Scion of the Pittsburgh oil and banking family, William Larimer Mellon, Jr., was married, the father of three, and a successful rancher in Arizona when, at thirty-seven, he read a Life magazine article about Albert Schweitzer’s philosophy of “reverence for life” which guided his mission hospital in a remote area of Gabon, Africa. Mellon immediately wrote to the famous humanitarian in Lambarene, expressing admiration of Schweitzer’s life of service and the wish to engage in similar work with his wife, Gwendolyn. Schweitzer’s reply in March 1948 was a lengthy letter of realistic encouragement. In time, Mellon received his medical degree from Tulane University and later established a well-equipped hospital in one of the poorest regions of Haiti, where, with his wife, he spent the rest of his life working as a physician and a community development engineer.  The hospital continues to thrive. Author Jeannette Q. Byers has brought together sixty-five of the letters written between 1947 and Schweitzer’s death in 1965 in her book Brothers in Spirit: The Correspondence of Albert Schweitzer and William Larimer Mellon, Jr. She will read from these letters and tell us more about this extraordinary humanitarian project on Saturday, June 10, at 5:30 p.m. Please register for this program here.