Author Archives: Bruce Hennigan
Just a Bite of Something Sweet
I made an egg custard pie for Christmas. There is only one slice left. I am the only one in my immediate household that eats egg custard pie. My sister, Gwen, loved egg custard pie. She passed away the Sunday before Thanksgiving at the age of 85. We had her funeral week before last and I had the privilege to deliver her eulogy.
This past Saturday our family held its annual Christmas party in memory of those who have passed on. I put together a video from 1992 and 1994 when we took my mother and father to Disney World. Gwen and Sue (my other sister) were with us. Gwen’s kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and I’m pretty sure great great grandchild watched in delight as their “Nana” enjoyed Disney World with our mother and daddy.
That is why I made an egg custard pie. Gwen loved it. But no one loved it better than my mother. Let’s take the way back machine to the 1960’s. The default number one best shopping center in Shreveport was Shreve City.
J. C. Penney, Dillards, Woolco Department Story, McCary’s Jewelers, Stan’s Record Shop, and my favorite, Big Chain Cafeteria. We lived in Blanchard and it was about a 30-40 minute drive to Shreve City. But Mother loved to shop there at J.C. Penney. And occasionally grab a quick bite at Walgreen’s Diner. But her favorite food was found at Big Chain Cafeteria.
We ate there at least once a week, usually on Saturday while shopping but sometimes on Sunday when my Daddy was the music director at Mildred Crowe Memorial Baptist Church on North Market (since we were closer to Shreve City than at home!)
Every time we went to Big Chain I dreamed of getting a piece of egg custard pie! As we passed down the line starting with salad (rabbit food!) I kept a wary eye on my mother’s tray. She picked up gelatin salad, a fresh baked roll, her meat and vegetables and I would pray she would get a piece of pie. But, being a large woman who watched her calorie intake, she would pass up the pie. I would grab the largest piece available. Let me explain. It was not because I wanted a lot of pie. No, I just wanted an entire piece of pie!
You see, when my mother finished any meal (except for maybe breakfast) she routinely would look about at all available options and pronounce, “I just need a little bite of something sweet.” You know what that meant? Yes, her hungry eyes would come to rest on MY piece of pie. No matter how hard I tried to arrange the plates and glasses on my tray, I could never hide the pie from Mother.
“Honey, I just want a little bite of something sweet.” And before I could protest, her fork would soar through the air and — whack! One third of the pie was gone. Not the edge with pie crust but the best part, the pointy end! She would pop the “small bite of something sweet” equal to a third of my pie in her mouth and that was the end of it. For I would wolf down the rest before she needed another bite of something sweet. And I didn’t even get to enjoy it! Time and time again I would ask her if she wanted an entire piece of pie and I would encourage her to get her own piece. It never happened. If you were to visit her grave sight, you would see an inscription on the tomb stone stating that when she saw her Saviour “all she would want was a little bite of something sweet.”
My mother and father were married in the midst of the Great Depression in 1935. My father tried to make a go of it as a farmer in the most difficult time of our nation’s history for farming. They starved for years until moving to Shreveport in 1941 and leaving the dust bowl of Saline, Louisiana behind. I guess that is why my mother loved food so much!
A few years back, I decided to tackle some of the encouraging stories of my mother and father particularly at Christmas time. Mother loved to cook and bake but especially at Christmas. I became her helper as we made divinity, pralines, date loaf, date balls, party mix, “Martha Washington” balls (coconut nugget dipped in chocolate), and prune cake (don’t knock ti until you’ve tried it). Lots of little “bites of something sweet.” I compiled years of blog posts and devotionals I wrote about this special time of the year in a book for my family. “Just a Bite of Something Sweet at Christmas” was my gift to a growing family of children, grand children, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren and even great great great grandchildren. I never thought the book would be read by anyone outside my family. But I have had many comments on the stories in the book by other readers.
I picked up my copy this week and started reading and realized what powerful stories of encouragement and courage came from my parents as part of the “Greatest Generation”. They were both born before 1920 and saw the coming of automobiles, radio, talkies, two World Wars, the Korean War, television, the Vietnam War, the space program, the turmoil of the sixties and seventies, computers and the Internet, and so forth. No other generation has ever experienced such tumultuous change!
Right before I decided to write this book, I discovered my father had been interviewed by a high school student a few years before his death at age 98 in 2012. The transcript and recording were in his own words. When my mother passed away in 2004 at age 86 we discovered she had written her life story in a spiral bound notebook. I included their stories in their own words at the end of the book.
And so, this season, check out “Just a Bite of Something Sweet at Christmas” and be encouraged by the stories of my parents and my families. You will read stories of faith in the child born in the manger who would live and die and rise again for our salvation. And my hope is that you will find Jesus as your savior and one day walk the golden streets of heaven and find and eternal “bite of something sweet.”
Merry Christmas
The Homecoming Tree — 20 years!
My mother and father married on July 27,1935 in the middle of the Great Depression. Most Americans have no idea how bad times were in 1935. My father wanted to be a farmer and by the time 1940 rolled around their family was almost starving. My mother laid down the law and my parents along with my brother and sister moved from the tiny watermelon capital of Louisiana, Saline to the big city of Shreveport. My father was fortunate to get a job at the post office thanks to his brother in law. My mother went to work at Sears & Roebuck downtown.
They leased a house of Buckner Street with plenty of room for the family. Then, in 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. My father was thirty days away from being deployed to Europe when he was told as an employee of the U. S. Post Office, he would keep his job.
Soon after, my uncles from Saline left for Europe or the Pacific. Their families, one by one, moved in with my parents. My father converted a back porch into two bedrooms. The Hennigan “boarding” house was in business.
One of my aunts worked as a taxi driver in Shreveport during the war and the stories my parents told about her antics showed she was far ahead of her time! I loved to sit just off my uncle’s living room in Saline while my parents and their brothers, sisters, and in laws shelled peas and shucked corn and told about life during the Depression and World War II.
In 1999 I had converted all of my parents’ photographs from the past century into an old fashion slide show. My brother, born in 1937, joined them and I turned on the video camera while they told me their life story. Slide by slide we covered their lives from 1914 until to the early 1950’s. In particular, I was interested in life in Shreveport and Bossier City during the war.
In 1992, I became the drama director at Brookwood Baptist Church. By 2005, I had written and directed over 100 long and short dramas and I was ready to move on from drama to dedicate my time to writing books. For my last production, I decided to write a play based on my parents’ stories from World War II for our holiday production in 2005.
“The Homecoming Tree” told the story of a family living in Shreveport from their Thanksgiving meal up through Christmas Eve 1941. It was a huge production covering the entire stage area of our new church campus and featured over fifteen actors and actresses. We had a snow machine for outside scenes. We turned the baptistery into a radio studio. My mother had passed away in 2004 but my father recorded a 1940’s song and along with songs from 1941 it played during the scene changes. I had a three camera setup to record the entire production. (Unfortunately, one of the main actors routinely got off track in the third act and we had to flail around a bit to get everyone back on task.) However, it was one of the best received productions at Brookwood Baptist Church.
A few years passed and I was not happy with one of the characters I had created. I imagined a different framing for the story and rewrote the play featuring a modern day business man about to ruin his family by running off with his secretary. In order to teach him the importance of family, he is sent back in time to 1941 with amnesia and has to learn the lessons of the Greatest Generation. To be honest, many churches asked for the script but because of the scope of the production, they were unable to produce the play.
I decided to write a novelization of the play. “The Homecoming Tree” novel premiered in 2018. Great reviews followed. One reviewer said it reminded him of his favorite Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (which was totally intentional on my part) and that reviewer reads the book every Christmas to get into the spirit of the holidays.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of “The Homecoming Tree” play and I want to encourage everyone to check out the book for this Christmas. Now, more than ever, we need to remember the sacrifices and devotion of the “Greatest Generation” as they fought and defeated evil throughout the world in order to bring about freedom and liberty.
You can find out more about the book at this link.
A Little GEEKD Will Do Ya
I have to admit I was a nerd before nerd was a word. It was only later in my life that the term “geek” could be applied to me. I have a class picture from my eighth grade year book listing showing me with hair plastered down with Brylcreem (a little dab a do ya) with black thick rimmed glasses (which are very chic now!) And a pocket protector.
Yes. A pocket protector. If you don’t know what that is, bless you! It served to carry my pens and my slide rule. In my defense, digital calculators came out when I was in the ninth grade.
It wasn’t until the tenth grade I rebelled against the short hair and the heavy glasses. I grew my hair out as long as school rules permitted. There was an actual measurement of how close your hair could come to your collar and how low your sideburns could extend. I pushed the limit and got some gold rimmed glasses. I was now very groovy and hip! But I was still a nerd and still a prehistoric geek.
This past weekend I took my adult daughter to GEEKD con in Shreveport. The first time I took her to a comic-con or anima convention was in 2005, MECHACON in Lafayette. I was shell shocked at what I saw and experienced but since then have settled into the fun to be had at these events. It should be noted that Casey and I left Lafayette on Sunday morning in 2005 right ahead of hurricane Katrina!
Of course, in order to really enjoy such an event, one must cosplay. If you don’t know what that means, it’s basically dress up as your favorite character from comic, movies, television, etc.
In the past, I gave in to my daughter’s request and I have been Indiana Jones, a Jedi Knight, the 4th Doctor, and most recently, the War Doctor. Now that I am, ahem, mature in age, the War Doctor and the older Indiana Jones are right down my alley. Casey has pulled off almost every iteration of the newer Doctors from Doctor Who and a host of anime characters I have no experience with.
The event was HUGE! We went to the first convention in Bossier City ten years ago and it was quite modest compared to this weekend. I also remember the line to get in to that first convention was almost a quarter of a mile long!
My daughter wanted to meet some voice actors, once again from anime shows, and I had no idea who she was talking about. I wanted to meet Bret Iwan, the voice of Mickey Mouse as I am a huge Disney fan. Also, we wanted to meet John Barrowman, the actor who portrayed Malcolm in Arrow and Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood.
I want to say that meeting each of these celebrities was so shockingly pleasant. Their love for their fans was obvious. Barrowman came out from behind his table to meet and greet every person, sign autographs and pose for selfies. Bret Iwan was the most humble and down to earth person I met. Kat Cressida, a genuine surprise guest I did not realize I knew, played Kat in Babylon Five but also has voiced many Disney characters such as Jessie, and the bride in the attic in the Haunted Mansion (my daughter’s favorite ride) along with other Disney characters. We spent almost fifteen minutes just talking and visiting with her and she shared some of her audition stories with us. What a sweet person!
I attended Bret’s panel and loved hearing his stories about how he ended getting the job of voicing Mickey Mouse after Wayne Alwine, the voice of Mickey for decades, passed away. Such a sweet and inspiring story.
But then, oh my goodness, I attended John Barrowman’s panel. I have never heard such foul language and nasty jokes packed into one hour in my life. But I have to admit I laughed so hard my throat was soar. He was definitely not for the PG13 crowd. In fact at one point when answering a question he asked the guest how old he was. He replied, “14” and Jack just said, “I’m in trouble!” BTW, he was wearing a dress that looked like the TARDIS and white high heel shoes.
However, I did meet one special person. S. K. Davidson, a young woman, alone at her table, has written a science fiction novel, “An Unforeseen Genesis” and I am enjoying the book. I sensed upon meeting her that her spirit synced with mine and I believed she was a believer. After reading her book dedication, I was so pleased to read in her dedication that she is a Christian. Check out her website.
Also, my son Sean informed me of geekdevotions.com, another Christian site dedicated to celebrating geeks who just happen to be Christian and more. Check out their site and their Youtube channel.
So from the ridiculous (Barrowman) to the sublime (Bret and S. K. Davidson) it was a fulfilling and fun experience. Next year, I’ll be there probably as Indiana Jones, the old one who barely made it though Dial of Destiny. You can jeer at me then!
Grab a Girdle . . .
Okay, so this is totally off the beaten path. No medical angle. No talking about Dr. Jack Merchant. I have been watching “Leanne” on Netflix. If you haven’t discovered Leanne Morgan, go to Netflix or Youtube and watch some of her comedy specials BEFORE you watch the new series. And try, for now, to avoid the little baby girl overlays of her comedy. You’ll see what I mean. You must see Leanne’s facial expressions to get her comedy.
Then, go to Netflix and watch the new series. Bring a tissue. You’ll be crying with laughter. Leanne Morgan is from Tennessee and her southern accent is genuine and, for this southern boy, strangely comforting. It brings back many memories of growing up on a farm in Blanchard, Louisiana. She is my people!
You can also find many video posts on Youtube with Leanne interviewed by famous people such as Oprah about her series. But the best is with Amy Poehler. During that interview, Leanne talks about her battle with Spanx and girdles and after I got myself up off the floor, a memory from my childhood surfaced.
That’s my mother on the far right at Grand Canyon when I was ten. I’m the kid looking away from the camera. The other two kids are my nephews and my older sister, Gwen, is their mother. The guy in the middle is my father, of course.
My mother was larger than life. Literally. Her entire life, she fought the battle of the bulge. Once, and only once, successfully losing a hundred pounds. She had TOPS to thank. What is TOPS? Take Off Pounds Sensibly! Maybe a Weight Watchers precursor? Guess what? It still exists.
I tell the story of the time I bit into a salad mother made from a TOPS recipe only to find plastic netting in my mouth. Green plastic netting! The recipe said to substitute it for real lettuce to cut down on the calories. And to put fiber in your diet! I think I pooped a flower arrangement!
Tab was the drink of choice back then filled with that mouse bladder cancer agent saccharin. I drank it just like my Mom because I was a hefty, chunky little boy who had to wear “Husky” jeans. A nice word for fat boy breeches. And don’t get me started on Metrical. Those little dry, flaky biscuits could have been used for door stops. And stop me up they did! Anyway, I digress.
But, the battle of bulge reached critical proportions every Sunday morning. My father was a bivocational music director and he served in various small churches my entire life. This meant we were at the church every time the doors were open. Now, my mother drove a school bus. And her preferred clothing was double knit polyester pants and flowered blouses. She made both, by the way, from that lovely, indestructible polyester cloth that will be wrapped around indestructible styrofoam in a landfill. A thousand years from now someone will find that blouse and pair of pants and wear them with a Styrofoam cooler for a hat.
For a short period of time, she made me shirts to wear to junior high school. I tried to burn them in the trash, but as I said, they were indestructible!
On Sunday mornings, when I was young, between about 6 and 10, my mother would call me into her bedroom as she was getting dressed for Sunday morning. She agreed to wear a dress on Sunday morning instead of her slacks because, after all, she was the music director’s wife. She won a battle once to allow her to wear her pants on Sunday evening, but that is a story for another day.
My mother would be standing by the bed with her girdle halfway up her legs. My job was to climb up on the bed and grab the top of her girdle and pull with all my might. My father couldn’t do the job. His hands were too big to fit between the girdle’s lip and my mother’s, uh, skin.
I would heave an ho and pull and tug and grunt and sweat until finally, the girdle would slide up into place and my mother, red faced and short of breath would declare victory. I never thought about this odd request. Didn’t all boys help their mothers with their girdles? Of course they did.
Until I heard Leanne Morgan talk about her girdle and her struggle to get it up over her stomach “the size of a small purse”.
I laugh about this today. I never shared that girdle gridiron touchdown story with anyone until I got married. My wife never wore a girdle. In fact, the word girdle has all but disappeared from our vocabulary replaced with more acceptable euphemisms.
My mother passed away in 2004. And I miss her. But I must admit, I don’t miss the great girdle hitch me up!
Check out Leanne on Netflix and laugh. Now, when she mentions her girdle, you’l see why I found myself on the floor in tears!
Of Magic, Merchants, and Mayhem
I want to thank everyone for reading the past few posts promoting my latest book, “Merchant of Justice”. Response to the story has been good especially from my medical colleagues! If you haven’t read “Shadow Merchant” I encourage you to check it out and our website, hopeagainbooks.com has links to buy the book.
Tomorrow I am traveling to the Daytona Beach area to visit with Mark and Donna Sutton. Mark is my former pastor, co-author, and brother in Christ. In 2001 Mark and I were privileged to release “Conquering Depression” published by B&H Publishing. Since that time, B&H asked us to update the book and in 2014, released “Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression.” In 2019, Mark and I released the third edition under our own publishing banner, “Hope Again: A Lifetime Plan for Conquering Depression.”
I cannot express how many lives this book has changed. I do not say this as a boast for I never planned on co-authoring a book about depression because I never planned on having a major life changing depressive episode. God had different plans and as I have said many times, “it was not my plan”. It seems most of the time, what I am involved in has never been MY plan. My simple awakening moment every day is to ask God what work I can be involved in today. His work. Not mine! And God has blessed this little book that kept on going.
Now, I am faced with the reality that my section of the book based on medical data and apologetic and cultural issues is sadly out of date. It needs to be updated.
But, the book is now, in one form or the other, almost 24 years old. Perhaps it is time to let it fade away. Yesterday, while visiting Barnes and Noble I saw many books written by Christian authors dealing with anxiety, depression, and cultural influences. Maybe our book isn’t needed anymore. At the time we wrote the first book, there were hardly any books written at an easily understandable level for helping Christians develop a plan to conquer depression. While it did not become a best seller, it filled a niche and has changed and touched lives all over the world. LOGOS, the Bible study software, lists our book as part of their library.
I am asking for prayer and direction about our book. I will be sitting down with Mark to discuss the future. Mark’s health no longer allows him to write books but his knowledge of the Bible and how to apply it to everyday life is large and in charge!
We talk more about our book at conqueringdepression.com and I apologize that site is not as active as I desire. If you want to check out our book, I suggest you order it from hopeagainbooks.com not the conquering depression website.
On another note, I am actively involved in finishing the final book in the “Chronicles of Jonathan Steel”. I wrote the rough draft for the first book way back in 2000. It has been a long journey writing about all thirteen demons! And I want the last book to bring together all of the story lines. When I decided to write a book series, the first thing I did was sit down and write the last chapter of the last book so I would know where I would be going over the series. I know where I have been headed with every book and I want to true to the stories I’ve told up until now. In a future post I will tell the story again of how a total stranger had a vision about my books and told me I had three guardian angels watching over me to make sure Satan did not keep me from writing these books. Those of my readers who follow Jonathan Steel please be patient. It will be worth the wait!
If you interested in the Jonathan Steel series, I suggest you go to Amazon or Apple Books and download my Volume 1 of the Jonathan Steel Chronicles. There is not a printed version because it would be over 1200 pages long! This is the latest updated versions of the first three books restored to their original form after heavy editing by my traditional publisher. These books are the “author’s” cut, so to speak!
Also, I am working on putting together an audiobook series of the books. Lots going on!
And, I haven’t forgot about Dr. Jack Merchant. I’m working on the third book as I am working on the Chronicles of Jonathan Steel.
And, I am so excited about a book I discovered just yesterday, “On Magic & Miracles” by Mirian Jacobs. She is a Christian author who has addressed the “wizard” in the room regarding how Christian authors can write stories including magic! My spin off series from Jonathan Steel, “The Node of God” has been in limbo because I have wrestled with how to write a Christian story that includes magic. Now I feel liberated and I am about to start work on finishing that first book, “The Node of God: The Harbinger of the Redeemer”.
One last note, tonight at Brookwood Baptist Church our monthly Brookwood Apologetics meeting will feature a Question and Answer Forum where our “scholars” will be open to any question about Christian and science, culture, and so forth. We may not have all the answers but we will have some and we can point anyone in the right direction for answers.
The Man with Xray Vision!
I was ten years old and the advertisements in the back of the Superman comic book showed a man with glasses looking at his hand and seeing through the skin to the bones. The glasses were advertised as “X Ray Vision” glasses for one dollar. I knew that Superman had Xray vision and if I could just get those glasses . . .
That afternoon, I pinned a red towel to my back. My mother refused to allow me to tie the towel around my neck because I might “hang” myself. So we pinned the towel corners one to each shoulder. Little did she know I was about to do something as dangerous as the possibility of choking. I climbed up on the roof of the “garage apartment” as we called the one bedroom apartment next to our house and decided I could fly like Superman. If I could fly, I wouldn’t need Xray glasses!
I jumped and fell about eight feet landing square on my back. The blow knocked the wind out of me and still remember lying on the ground unable to breath. I couldn’t get my breath. Luckily, my daddy was out in the yard “piddling” (that means doing little odd jobs, not relieving oneself) and saw me fall. He came over immediately and kept telling me to breath. That was what I was trying to do! Eventually I got my breath back and was able to go into the house. I don’t know how I managed not to break anything. But that little incident bought me enough empathy from my parents that I convinced my mother to order the “X ray Glasses” from the comic book.
Of course, when the glasses arrived all they did was make something look blurry enough you thought you were seeing the bones inside. It was another scam against a young comic book reader like the “submarine” I acquired which was nothing but a cardboard box. Little did I know that one day, I would truly be the man with Xray vision!
Do you know your radiologist? I’m sure you know your internist, family practice doctor, OB/GYN doctor and so forth. Few people realize that if you have any kind of Xray or imaging study, particularly in a hospital or imaging center there is a radiologist responsible for reviewing those studies and dictating a report with the findings and a diagnosis. These doctors work in the shadows behind the scene but are absolutely essential to patient diagnosis. I know, because I am a radiologist.
Becoming a radiologist was NEVER my plan! In fact, one day I want to write a book about my life entitled, “Never My Plan!”. I was halfway through my internship in internal medicine the year after I graduated from medical school and realized I had made a huge mistake. I was miserable. I hated my internship. This was NOT what I wanted to do. I started looking at other residencies and one day, while working the emergency room, ran into my friend, Randy Brown down in radiology at LSU Medical Center. I’ve shared this story before, but I realized God was opening a door I never considered walking through and I ended up in the radiology residency program the following July.
After 4 years of residency and a short fellowship, I started working at Willis Knighton Medical Center with a group of radiologists. That was 42 years ago! I have never regretted the decision. I have been a “shadow merchant” since July 1980!
What does a doctor with Xray Vision do, exactly? I describe a radiologist and his practice with my character, Dr. Jack Merchant in “Shadow Merchant” and “Merchant of Justice”.
At the core of each hospital is a department of Radiology. Like very department in the hospital, radiology has its own drama, struggles, and personal quirks. It is here patients receive diagnostic imaging studies that range from simple X-rays all the way to PET scans.
The cover of “Shadow Merchant” features part of my daughter’s MRI of her brain by her permission, of course.
Xrays most people understand. You know, “hold your breath” when they take a “picture” of your lungs. Or that possible fracture you might have when they Xray your hand. However, the field of radiology includes CAT scanning with an Xray device that produces “slices” through the human body and can reconstruct those slices into 3D images. MRI uses massively powered magnets and no radiation to produce images of just about anything in the entire body. Just slide right into that tube over there! Ultrasound uses sound waves to produce fancy “sonar” images of many parts of the body. Nuclear Medicine uses radioactive tracers tagged to certain chemicals that can image body organs and evaluate their function as well as their anatomy. PET scans are a special kind of nuclear medicine study using a combination of nuclear pharmaceuticals and CAT scans for evaluation of almost any kind of cancer.
Mammography consists of 3D Xray imaging of the breast to rule out breast cancer. The gold standard for breast diagnosis in the twenty first century is the radiology controlled breast imaging centers where a patient arrives with a complaint related to their breasts and they don’t leave until there is an answer using mammography and ultrasound. In today’s world, the radiologist not only diagnoses a possible breast cancer but will discuss those findings with the patient and set them up for a biopsy under imaging guidance by the radiologist. Radiologist work hand in hand with breast surgeons, radiation therapists, and oncologists in the science of the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Most other types of biopsies are performed by a radiologist using CAT scan or ultrasound guidance. Most elective spinal taps are now performed by radiologists using Xray guidance which is much better for the patient. Interventional radiology, a field within radiology has exploded in the past decade and IR doctors now do all kinds of invasive diagnostic procedures or treatments using imaging guidance. And of course, the radiologist still performs upper GIs and barium enemas to look at the digestive system.
When I started out in radiology the field was not nearly as technologically advanced and I have had to LEARN a lot to keep up with the advances. In fact, I attend educational meetings every year just to keep up with the new advances and most of the subspecialties I mentioned above require regular recertification on a regular basis. In our practice group, we have subspecialty radiologists who are more expert in their areas. For instance, my subspecialities are breast imaging and PET scans. This way, our group can cover all of the new advances without every member learning every new advance as that would be almost impossible. This is how complicated this field of medicine has become.
Next time you show up for a “test” in radiology, pay attention to the technologists and the nurses and be aware there is a radiologist in charge who will be responsible for making your diagnosis or delivering your therapy. And, I would suggest you ask the name of your radiologist for the day. We would appreciate it!
It’s Clobberin’ Time!
I’m stepping away from posting on my most recent book, “Merchant of Justice” for a movie review.
Saline, Louisiana is a small community in north central Louisiana best known for its watermelons and the birthplace of my ancestors. My grandparents lived in a house right out of the Addams family neighborhood. Fifteen foot ceilings inside with a bare light bulb dangling on a wire from the center. Aging, sagging stairs leading up to two front porches on either side of a bay window. The house sat five feet off the ground on piers. No air conditioning. My parents would travel to Saline during the summer months to help my aunts and uncles shell black-eyed peas, shuck corn, and harvest watermelons and we would stay at my grandparents’ house. An enclosed porch on the backside of the house had a small bed pushed up against a window and the only air came through that screened window.
I was bored. There was nothing for a twelve year old to do in Saline. I could walk a couple of blocks to the playground of Saline School (first through twelfth grade!). Or, I could walk four blocks to downtown Saline, a picture perfect Main Street of a small town.
The grocery store was small and most of the candy bars were so old, they had been invaded by worms. The meat in the cooler had a green sheen! The Calico Cafe across the street served blue plate specials for lunch. My one dollar allowance would only go so far. I wandered into the hardware store filled with aging furniture and light bulbs and musty towels. Nothing there for me!
Finally, across the street from the hardware store, I entered Baber’s Drug Store. No prescriptions were filled here. The old fashioned ice cream soda counter had no ice cream. Shelves were stacked with home remedies. It was here I found a box of sulfur and a box of saltpeter I would take them home in the coming months and make gunpowder. A story for another time!
At this time in my life, I was growing beyond childish stories. Just the year before, in September 1966, my life had been changed forever when I watched the first episode of a new show called Star Trek. I would never go back to Lost in Space! The stories and character were different, interesting, complex. Later as I matured, I would realize these characters were “mature”. The comic books I read at that time in my life were DC Comics: Superman, Batman, Justice League. Maybe I could find a new comic book to read.
I found the comic book stand and realized the DC comics available I had already seen. But there was something in front of me that would change my life must as much as Star Trek had. Here is the cover of that comic:
The Fantastic Four? Never heard of them. But I decided to take a chance and part with my 12 cents and try it. I took that comic back to my grandparents’ house in a misting rain. I laid across the bed in that back porch with my face pressed close to the cool breeze coming in the window from the rain filled air. And I read about Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Human Torch and the Thing. The Thing, a hideously deformed human had a blind girlfriend who was not horrified by his appearance. She had disappeared into the “Beehive” and the Fantastic Four had to find and rescue her. In the process they encountered a “cocoon” containing a highly advanced human life-form, the product of scientific experimentation. Called simply “Him” the humanoid emerged and fought the Fantastic Four. This creature would later be called Adam Warlock!
I was blown away! The character development was powerful, and, yes, mature. The story of the Thing being rejected by those around him because of his outward appearance resonated with this poor, chubby, bullied boy! And, he still managed to have a girlfriend!
After the rain stopped, I ran back downtown and spent the rest of my allowance on the comic book before the one I had just read along with three new comics: Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Avengers. Sorry, DC. I never went back until Christopher Reeves brought Superman to life in 1978.
I share this because I have survived four theatrical versions of The Fantastic Four. The 1994 Roger Corman production, produced so Fox would not lose the franchise rights never appeared in public but you can find it on a distant corner of the Internet. The two early 2000 movies were much better and almost captured the feel of the Fantastic Four. The 2015 version should not be discussed. I rank it right along with Alien Resurrection, the third Alien movie that undid all the second movie earned with Ripley, Newt, and Hicks.
Last week, I went to the new movie with my adult daughter and son. Together we watched the definitive, authentic version of the Fantastic Four I first encountered in that comic book back in 1967. Go see it! The story of family, of unity, of good versus evil, of a mother’s love for her child is so powerful! And throughout the entire movie, the characters were spot on! I was back on that bed in my grandparents’ house meeting the Fantastic Four again! Take someone you love and enjoy one of the most uplifting and inspiring movies this year. Set in a 1960’s alternate world, the setting resonated with my own childhood memories of a country flourishing with hope and the promise of a great future. The space program dominated the news with exciting images of spaceships, astronauts, and space walks culminating in a man walking on the moon. Optimism still reigned in this world and that hope and optimism can still be discovered if we learn to look beyond our differences and strive to make this world a better place by being a part of the human family.
Help the movie beat out the competition (haven’t seen Superman yet) because for the Fantastic Four, it’s Clobberin’ Time!
What happens with medicine and justice collide?
Part 1: Trafficking and physical abuse
Last post I mentioned a victim of child abuse, a young boy who was physically abused leading to multiple skull fractures. When such a patient is seen, the doctor and the entity for which the doctor fulfills their duties have very clearly set processes that kick in immediately. I won’t go into details, but doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel care about the patient and will do whatever it takes to insure their safety now and in the future.
My job as a radiologist is to recognize and clearly describe findings on imaging studies that fit the pattern of physical abuse. Radiologists have very specific phrasing to insure these reports signal the possibility without frankly accusing anyone of wrongdoing. Injuries that resemble abuse can sometimes be truly secondary to accidents and not intentional. We do not want to wrongly accuse anyone of physical abuse. But, at the same time, we do not want to let an abused individual fall through the cracks.
Part of annual training for physicians involves recognizing such dangerous situations as human trafficking. We are required to undergo this training or I licenses will be revoked. For 2025 I had undergo training on how to recognize a patient who might be the victim of trafficking.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 49.6 million people are currently trapped in modern slavery, which includes both forced labor and forced marriage. Women and girls make up 71% of all modern slavery victims. Children represent approximately 25% of all victims of modern slavery.
Tracking human trafficking is difficult because it’s an underground crime and there is no simple way to track it. Why? Because, transactions happen in secret, traffickers don’t keep public records, and many victims never report their exploitation due to fear, stigma, or lack of resources.
In the Shreveport/Bossier City area the Hub Ministry works very hard to help victims escaped from this type of slavery. There are three ministry areas.
The Lovewell Center is a membership based resource center that gives members the opportunity to earn the physical resources they need by attending classes and programs designed to help them move out of poverty and homelessness and into a restored life. Earned credits can be used in The Lovewell stores: The Dresswell clothing store, The Smellwell laundromat, The Eatwell food store and The Stylewell hair salon.
Purchased: A trauma-informed residential recovery program for women coming out of the sex industry and adult victims of Sex Trafficking.Rescue, relationship, recovery and resources to women and children experiencing sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.
Rise Up & Roast provides high quality coffee with an even higher quality story. Every bag of Rise Up & Roast is prepared and packaged by a graduate of one of The Hub’s programs – which means your coffee has fueled a future. When you have a fresh cup, you’re giving a fresh start.
This fantastic ministry is changing lives every day. For more information check out their website: https://thehubministry.org.
While my current book does not deal with human trafficking I am a staunch supporter of such ministries. If you suspect someone of being a victim of human trafficking, call the National Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
How does a person of faith deal with death everyday?
My novels always include faith based issues. I refuse to preach but the Message must be imbedded in my stories. With regard to my character, Dr. Jack Merchant, a radiologist who also consults with the coroner, how does a person of faith deal with death?
I see death every day. I’m not a medical examiner. I am a radiologist. I interpret imaging studies every day I work. On some days, I might go through up to 250 patients and their studies. While I don’t see a dead patient, at least rarely, I see the death sentence right in front of me on the study. It might be a lung cancer, or diffuse metastatic cancer throughout the body, or a large infiltrating tumor in a woman’s breast. It might be a dissection in the aorta (deadly if not treated immediately) or a massive hemorrhage in the brain with the blood devastating and destroying viable brain tissue. I might not see death at the moment. But I see it coming and often soon.
Early on in my training, I recall a young boy with multiple skull fractures. I was a student at that point and when I found out what had been done to this child to cause such damage, I almost quit medicine! Not only do I see impending death, I see the evil that lives in the hearts of all people.
How do I deal with these realities?
First, such horrific outcomes are rare. I would estimate about 10% of the cases I read every day have such a possible deadly outcome at that moment in time. There are LOTS of good news, hope, and treatable diseases. I thrive on these cases!
Second, my personal journey in my career in medicine began with a calling from God to enter the field of medicine. The story is too long for today’s post but perhaps one day I will share it. It has become a humbling experience to realize I may be the answer to someone’s prayer. I would never be in the position to help diagnose, and sometimes treat, patients as a radiologist if I had not heard and responded to the Call. This is foundational for me and continues to give me strength and endurance in the face of death.
Third, I do not take it home with me. I started out in internal medicine. In that field the pain and suffering were right in front of me in the flesh. With radiology, there is some separation. Finding this field, again because of God’s direction, led me to realize it fit my empathic personality much better. Nevertheless, I discovered Walt Disney World shortly after completing my internship in internal medicine. That internship year was the most dehumanizing, destructive experience of my life. Walking into the Magic Kingdom provided an enthralling and all encompassing escape from the daily walk among sick and dying patients. I needed that renewal. However, my strongest renewal occurs from my faith.
Being a hospital based physician, I cannot share my faith or be sanctioned for proselytizing. However, if a patient opens the door to their own personal faith, I walk through fully and enthusiastically. I live for such moments!
So, how about Dr. Jack Merchant? Is he a man of faith? How does he deal with death, not only in his practice, but as a consultant to the medical examiner? The answer to that question is the substance of his journey in the current stories and the stories to come. He starts out with a faint connection to the divine and must decide how deeply to commit himself to faith. Part of his journey through the valley of the shadow of death is story I will tell. Be patient. God is not finished with Jack yet!
Merchant of Justice — Have you been on a Jury?
Every person I have met has the same reaction when the dreaded jury summons letter arrives. Emotions border on hatred and homicidal urges. No one wants to serve on a jury! Cooped up in a room with thirteen other strangers (twelve jury members and two alternates) for possibly days and getting paid a pittance! And to top it off, we have no choice! It is the law! Unless, we can come up with a good reason not to be on a jury. Strategies abound on how to dodge jury duty.
However, recently, my efforts fell on deaf ears and I showed up for jury duty. Within hours of sitting in the dull, oppressive courtroom, I was called in the first twelve potential members of the jury. The next morning after hours of lectures on the process of a jury and a trial and the definitions of murder, I was seated on the jury.
I will never forget the first time I sat in the jury box and studied the “perp” or rather, the accused at the far end of a long table. The prosecution sat at the end of the table closest to the jury. The accused and his attorneys sat at the far end.
Clad in a flannel shirt and wearing black rimmed glasses, the man seemed like an ordinary person I might meet at Starbucks or find sitting behind me in a pew at church. He certainly didn’t look like a murderer. Looks can be deceiving. Skin cannot hide what dwells within the heart of man. See what I did there? I’m a writer!
The trial unfolded swiftly after we were seated. Heartbreaking testimony from the victim’s friends and family. Body camera footage from the police arriving just moments after the shooting. On day two, grim and disturbing photographs of the victim’s body from a pathologist with monotonal delivery. He was far too calm for the carnage exposed on the photographs. I’m a doctor and I found the photos very disturbing, nauseating, dehumanizing. I couldn’t begin to imagine what the other jurors were feeling.
Have you ever served on a jury? If so, have you been part of a murder tria? I had trouble sleeping for about a week after it was all said and done. It is one thing to read about such atrocities. It is another to see it laid out in real time before you while looking the murderer in the eyes!
When the guilty verdict was finally delivered and the courtroom was cleared of everyone but the jury and the judge, my first thought was what if the murderer’s family, friends, or cohorts came after us for this verdict? Were we safe? The patina of apparent safety had been stripped away like pain thinner on the bubbled surface of old wood! No one was safe if this seemingly calm, ordinary man had been capable of the macabre and gruesome murder. I can never look around me now without studying every individual, every movement, every possible intention. Safety is an illusion!
The judge assured us that in the thirty years he had presided over criminal cases, no jury member had every suffered from retribution.
I walked away from that experience a changed man. Here are my thoughts.
First, if I was ever accused of a crime, I would want a jury of reasonable, thinking, willing individuals to objectively assess the evidence against me. I wouldn’t want angry, anxious to be done, uncaring people. I know jury duty is a drag. But it is a necessary duty to keep our society from devolving into chaos.
Second, if I were asked to serve on a jury again, I would do it. Did it waste my time? Yes. Did I get reasonable recompense for my time? No! Was I inconvenienced? Yes. But considering that the victim lost her life and was deprived of a future with her grandchildren and friends, four days in a jury box is nothing! When we are chosen to be on a jury, we become the instruments of justice. Even unwillingly, it is a duty we should, albeit reluctantly, embrace.
Third, the experience taught me a lot about law and what really happens in a courtroom. What we see on television and the movie screen during a tense courtroom drama is NOTHING like experiencing it in real time. This man’s life was in OUR hand! We could with a cavalier attitude put the man away for life! Or we could release a monster out on the streets. At the same time, justice could only be served if we did our job objectively and willingly. The harsh reality of the choices we were called to make puts any fictional drama in its shadow.
Fourth, the experience provided me an opportunity to share with my readers. My second book about Jack Merchant was not intended to feature jury duty. I had another pathway chosen for Dr. Merchant. But circumstances in my practice group and events concerning members of my practice came dangerously close in real life to what I had intended in fiction. I had to back off and come up with another story. For now. My experience on a jury during a murder trail became the central story of “Merchant of Justice”.
So join Dr. Jack Merchant as he reluctantly becomes the “13th juror”.
Bruce Hennigan 
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