Customer Reviews

Life is a Blessing: A Biography of Jerome Lejeune--Geneticist, Doctor, Father

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On impulse, I bought this book for a son-in-law who is a research scientist in immunology. I snuck in a read before I mailed it, and I was enthralled.

Being more of a logical than an emotional mind, I too rarely shed tears when reading a book. But in the case of Jerome Lejeune, his daughter Clara so captures the love and courage of the man, that I tear up again now as I write this review. The only other book I can remember affecting me this way is Henri Gheon's biography of the Cure d'Ars.

Now I must buy a second copy of the book to give to a long lost friend, a man who loved his Down Syndrome daughter. Bill is not of a theistic mind, and maybe this is the book he needs to encounter the love of God.

Dr. Lejeune was a great scientist and physician who was first and foremost a great human being. This is not a comprehensive bio, but rather an intimate memoir by a loving daughter. It suceeds in offering a revealing portrait of what a life lived with integrity to deeply held principles looks like. It allowed Dr. Lejeune to possess the courage and character to count the cost of taking an unpopular stand and to unflinchingly sacrifice wealth and prestige, including a nobel prize, to stand on his convictions. At peace with himself and God, he faced the end of life without apologies or bitterness. When I want to offer medical students a heroic role model I need look no futher.