Each Historic Saranac Lake staff member read the book in one fell swoop. It is a beautiful, heartbreaking, eye-opening book that challenges us to grasp the enormity that is tuberculosis, past and present. Most Americans are unaware that TB once took the lives of more people in this country than cancer and heart disease combined. Many don’t know that the disease continues to kill more than a million people around the world each year, even though we have the medicine to cure it.

John Green doesn’t attempt to tell a complete history of TB, and so it is understandable that he skims over an account of Saranac Lake. Of course, we would have liked to read about Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, a founder of the fresh air sanatorium movement in the United States and pioneer in the scientific research of TB. Dr. Trudeau died of the disease in 1915, but Saranac Lake continued to develop as a center for patient care and professional training in the field. Some of the early drug trials were performed here in Saranac Lake in the early 1950s. Today, scientists at Trudeau Institute continue to advance the science of TB and other diseases.

In the 1950s, the antibiotic treatment was perfected at Rutgers University. Although it meant hard times for our local economy, the magic bullet of medicine was celebrated near and far. Indeed, TB is now rare in the United States, thanks to widespread treatment and testing.

It can be tempting to leave the story there, but John Green reminds us that medicine and science do not progress in straight lines. Saranac Lake’s TB history is only one small piece of an ever-evolving narrative. Here we are 75 years later, and the drugs still haven’t made it to places where TB runs rampant. Inequality, broken public health systems, persistent high drug prices and lack of access to testing and nutrition, all mean that TB continues to be the worst global public health threat facing humanity. Limited access to medicine provides the opportunity for bacteria to mutate and become resistant to drugs. Lack of funding for development of new drugs means we have fewer and fewer answers to the ever-evolving germ.

Image of Isabel Smith, displayed on a cure chair at the Saranac Laboratory Museum. (Provided photo — Amy Catania)

Now, in 2025, the global situation is — unbelievably — worse than the one John Green described when he finished writing his book in 2024. Last month, the U.S. government abruptly cut funding of USAID-funded global health programs. Millions of people undergoing antibiotic treatment are now cut off from medicine. It’s a perfect recipe for the evolution of drug resistant bacteria. If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that we are all one organism, and bacteria will find their way to every corner of the globe.

TB will continue its rampage until high income countries take the first step to care about the problem. This is Mr. Green’s main goal with his book, to bridge the empathy gap. To humanize TB, he focuses on one young person in Sierra Leone, Henry Reider, and his courageous battle against drug-resistant TB.

Reading about Henry brought to mind so many patients in Saranac Lake’s past who are a living part of our museum. We tell the story of Gloria Hazard, who died in Saranac Lake before the age of 20. We talk about Isabel Smith, who cured for over 20 years in bed. And we remember Dr. E. L. Trudeau, “the beloved physician.” A model of empathy and optimism, Trudeau’s story continues to inspire healthcare workers around the world.

Visitors to the museum often teach us about Trudeau’s lasting legacy. In 2017, Drs. Suzhou Zhongyi Fan and Shulan Zhou visited the museum from China with their daughter, Wen.

Practicing medicine in China, Wen’s parents had long been inspired by Dr. Trudeau. That afternoon, they visited the cemetery at Paul Smiths, and they left a note on Trudeau’s grave.

Drs. Suzhou Zhongyi Fan and Shulan Zhou with their daughter, Wen. Their note honors Dr. Trudeau and his favorite saying, “To cure sometimes, to relieve often, and to comfort always.” (Provided photo — Amy Catania)

Saranac Lake is relevant to the story of TB because our museum is here today, chronicling the lives of patients and the people who cared for them. Learning about the past is a route to compassion, a first step to global understanding.

We held a book launch party last week for John Green’s new book. It’s no surprise we had a good turnout. We may be way up here in the Adirondack mountains, far from people around the world struggling with TB, but through our history we are connected. It’s a first step.

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Amy Catania is the executive director of Historic Saranac Lake.

This note honors Dr. Trudeau and his favorite saying, “To cure sometimes, to relieve often, and to comfort always.” (Provided photo — Amy Catania)