Book review
Crouch, Howard E. Damien and Dutton, Two Josephs on Molokai (A Biographical Novel). Bellmore, New York: Damien-Dutton Society for Leprosy Aid, Inc., 1998. ISBN 0-9606330-4-9. US$15 + US$3.50 postage and handling; includes photographs. Available from Damien-Dutton Society for Leprosy Aid, Inc., 616 Bedford Avenue, Bellmore, New York 11710, U.S.A. [All profits from the sale of this book will go to the Damien-Dutton Society for Leprosy Aid, Inc.]
In notes from the author, the analogy is made between Eric, of the "Phantom of the Opera," and leprosy patients bearing the disfigurement of the disease. Eric was born with hideous facial disfigurement and spent his life hidden in the bowels of the Paris Opera House in isolation and wrecking the lives of all who dared enter his domain. Like the entry of Christine into the life of Eric and Eric's falling in love, the author seeks to see beyond the disfigurement of leprosy patients and see the human spirit within and bring that spirit some hope and pleasure. The mission of Dutton, coming to Kalawao/Kalaupapa on Molokai, Hawaii, after Damien was disfigured from leprosy and was suffering loneliness and misunderstanding, was to be a friend. This precious bond of friendship lasted almost 3 years, until Damien's death in April 1889.
The first patients landed on the peninsula on Molokai on 6 January 1866. Damien arrived to serve them in 1873 and labored alone for 13 years until Dutton's arrival in July 1886.
The book relates the story of Father Damien and the unannounced arrival of Joseph Dutton to Molokai to help him with his work with leprosy sufferers. When he arrived Damien was 46 and Dutton 43. Although having no formal religious title, Joseph Dutton was named Brother Joseph by Father Damien, and introduced as such. The lack of effective treatment for the disease is explained in vividly human terms, often in terms of symptoms Father Damien himself was experiencing. Little other than wound dressings and amputations was available for the disease itself.
In a very telling passage, Damien relates his need to belong and to be accepted by the patients. He explains to Dutton that he was careless of his own safety and accepted food when it was offered, did not refuse touching, and took no luxury for himself that was denied them. He says, "... if I have leprosy because of that, than I am grateful to God for giving it to me."
Damien was at peace near his death. He died on Palm Sunday as he had predicted, so that he could be with his Christ at Easter. He wanted no one to mourn for him. He was praying to be with God for Easter. All traces of leprosy disappeared from his body at Damien's death. After his death and burial. Brother Joseph was visited by a white mourning dove that approached him closely at dusk one evening. From only a few feet away the dove cocked his head from side to side, and then flew away, never to be seen again. Brother Joseph took it as a sign from Damien saying all was well.
At age 87, after 44 years spent on Molokai, Brother Joseph Dutton left to be admitted to a hospital in Honolulu for cataract surgery. He died in Honolulu in March 1931, 42 years after Damien's death. He was buried next to Damien outside St. Philomenas church in Kalawao.
After 5 years, during which time the two Josephs lay side by side, the Belgians wanted Damien's body and it was returned to Louvain to a crypt of St. Joseph's chapel.
Damien was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 4 June 1995. The remains of his right hand were returned to Kalawao and reburied at his gravesite. Once again there were two Josephs on Molokai.
This book contains a wealth of information about leprosy in the 19th century, the history of Hawaii, and the day-to-day management of a leprosy settlement with 700 patients.
Howard Crouch is a gifted storyteller. We wish his book every success. -RCH
Joshi, Rajiv. Leprosy Minutiae. Mumbai: Bhalani Book Depot, 1998, RS. 60, 106 pp., three illustrations. This book by R. Joshi, M.D., Department of Dermatology, B.Y.L. Nair Hospital, Mumbai, India, is available from : Bhalani Book Depot, 21 Hind Rajasthan Bldg., Dadasaheb Palke Road, Near Dadar Station (C.R.), Mumbai 400 014, India.
This 106 page booklet (approximately 13 x 20 cm in size) is a delightful collection of 3 to 8 "bullets" on each page under a subject sentence dealing with some aspect of leprosy, along with marginal "trivia," frequently historical, that clarify or add to the main theme of the page. The information is current and remarkably comprehensive in its coverage. In presenting the disease in a manner similar to the notes a student would make during a conventional lecture series, the assimilation of the information is greatly facilitated. Dr. Joshi is obviously a gifted teacher.
He is to be congratulated on his "Leprosy Minutiae." - RCH