Readers > Everybody Reads > 2010 > About the Author > Author's Message
Author's Message
Steven Johnson
What an honor to have Multnomah County Library choose The Ghost Map for the Everybody Reads 2010 program! My hope with this book was that the narrative — John Snow and Henry Whitehead battling a deadly epidemic on the streets of Victorian London — would not just be an intriguing historical story, but that it would also connect to present-day problems and possibilities. The story of the Broad Street outbreak is ultimately a story about the triumph of a community, and the "local experts" in that community, taking a deadly assault and turning it into one of the great public health advances of modern times. We have many comparable problems today — environmental issues, new disease threats, challenges presented by growth and sprawl — and the kind of collaboration that Snow and Whitehead used in 1854 can still light the way for us as we try to find solutions. I hope the book triggers many productive — and fun — conversations, and I look forward to participating in some of those conversations when I visit Portland in March.
Happy reading,
Steven Johnson
October 2009
