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Author shares her grandfather's first-hand account of treating rural patients during the 1918 flu pandemic

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Talk of Iowa, hosted by Charity Nebbe

The winter of 1918 was brutal, not for the weather, but because the world was in the grips of an influenza pandemic that took at least 50 million lives worldwide.

No place was safe from this highly contagious illness and doctors everywhere were doing their best to keep their patients alive.

Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe talks with Mary Beth Sartor Obermeyer about one doctor who treated influenza in Kossuth County. When Winter Came: A Country Doctor's Journey to Fight the Flu Pandemic of 1918 chronicles the life of Sartor Obermeyer's grandfather Dr. Pierre Sartor, who first emigrated from his native country of Luxembourg to Chicago, before deciding to go where he felt he was needed — rural northern Iowa.

While more than one thousand of his patients got sick during the influenza pandemic, he only lost five. Sartor Obermeyer will be giving readings of her book at Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City and at the Titonka Public Library.

Also, we talk about the annual phenomenon of deer antler sheds and a free interactive event on the topic happening on Feb. 25.

Guests:

  • Mary Beth Sartor Obermeyer, author and Mason City native
  • Michael Maas, naturalist, Buchanan County Conservation Board
Charity Nebbe is IPR's 'Talk of Iowa' host. She also hosts IPR's podcasts 'Garden Variety' and 'Unsettled'. Since 2010, Nebbe has interviewed, conversed with, and shared ideas from guests of all backgrounds and locations, and has helped listeners better understand, appreciate, and explore their state and the world around them. Nebbe has a bachelors degree from Iowa State University.
Samantha McIntosh is a talk show producer for Iowa Public Radio. She holds a bachelor's degree from St. Cloud State University. Since 2022, McIntosh has worked with IPR's talk team to bring news and features to IPR's listening audience.