Nasza Droga do Sukcesu albo Siatkówka w Akademii Medycznej w Warszawie

W roku 1961 zacząłem studia medyczne w Warszawie. Siatkówką zainteresowałem się jeszcze w szkole średniej i dla zachowania równowagi psychofizycznej chciałem również grać na mojej uczelni. Szczęśliwie znalazłem tam zespół podobnych zapaleńców. Skromne początki Treningi odbywały się na odległym stadionie i w dodatku późnym wieczorem. Ponieważ zajęcia na uczelni nie rozpoczynały się przed ósmą, […]
Volleyball in Warsaw Medical School in the 60s

It was 1961, and I’ve just started my medical school in Warsaw. Volleyball interested me since high school and since I wanted to have a physical balance to my book education, I’ve found a volleyball team at my university. Modest beginnings We had practices in a far away arena late at night. But since we […]
How to Deal with Anger like Buddha

One day, the Buddha and a large following of monks and nuns were passing through a village. The Buddha chose a large shade tree to sit beneath, so the group could rest for a while out of the heat. He often chose times like these to teach, and so he began to speak. Soon, villagers […]
My First Book Club Event in Briar Chapel

After writing more or less seriously for several years, I am fascinated by a question: ‘why people write?’ I know why I started. My father already died, and my mother was getting older. They both went through hell in their lives together. Father didn’t talk much, but mother was a bottomless well of stories. And […]
The Largest Military Effort by Resistance Forces During WWII

Seventy-two years ago, on September 1st, Warsaw exploded. Two, may be three generations past. How many people still remember it? How many of them, who saw it with their own eyes, are still alive? And when our city erupted, there were only few not afflicted by these events. The Biblical scene of David fighting Goliath […]
Anger in the operating room

This scene looks familiar to most people who ever worked in the operating room. A high-power doctor, say a cardiac surgeon, is doing a long and complicated case. The stakes are high, the chances for complications significant, and he dreads any mistakes. Everybody in the room senses a tense situation, and all people walk on […]
Story behind the picture

There are no colleges in Poland. In our last year of high school, we had to decide where to continue our education. To help us make a conscious choice, our beloved Latin, French and an ancient history teacher, Mrs. Libera invited several of her graduated students to talk to us about professions they chose. To […]
Getting Out a Good Book Takes Much Longer Than to Read It

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” Arthur Plotnik Not many authors write readily publishable first drafts. For the rest, writing in essence is rewriting, and that’s an entirely different process. Some authors can do their […]
The Best Father’s Day Present Ever.

During my years in California, while in a private practice of cardiovascular surgery, I was elected the president of the local chapter of the American Heart Association. During one of the meetings, a late middle-aged woman came to me and said, “I know you!” I said, “You do!” thinking of her telling me how good […]