Richard Selzer
Richard Selzer is a surgeon and author. He was born (1928) and raised in Troy, New York, United States. His father was Julius Selzer, M.D. a general practitioner who practiced from the ground floor of the family home at Fifth Ave. in Troy. His mother, Gertrude Selzer, was an amateur singer who performed in local productions of musicals and opera.
Richard Selzer graduated from Union College in 1948, with a B.S. and received his MD from Albany Medical College in 1953. He served in the army during the Korean War from 1955-57, as a Lieutenant in charge of a medical detachment. In 1960, following a surgical internship and residency at Yale University, he joined the faculty of Yale as a professor of surgery where he remained until his retirement in 1985.
Beginning in the 1970's, Dr. Selzer became well known as an author as well.
Among his published books are:
Rituals of Surgery (1973)
Mortal Lessons: Notes on the Art of Surgery (1976)
Confessions of a Knife (1979)
Letters to a Young Doctor (1982)
Taking the World in for Repairs (1986)
Imagine a Woman (1990)
A Mile and a Half of Ink (1990)
Down from Troy: A Doctor Comes of Age (1992)
Raising the Dead: A Doctor’s Encounter with His Own Mortality (1993)
The Doctor Stories (1998)
The Exact Location of the Soul: New and Selected Essays (2001)
Down from Troy: A Doctor Comes of Age is his autobiography.
Dr. Richard Selzer included his short story 'Poe's Light-house', inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's "The Light-House", in 'The Doctor Stories', published by Picador.
Film Adaptation
Irreverent Media Ltd.has optioned and developed Selzer's short story as the feature film 'The Light-house'. The short story is currently in the process of being adapted for the screen by late 2008. It is rumored that Ellen Page of Hard Candy and Juno fame will star as Annie and Kevin Zegers has been attached for the leading role. The adaption is now in the pre-production phase but is scheduled for filming in January. It has been retitled Light-house.[1]