Neighbor News
Cedar Hill Cemetery & Bushnell Park Foundations Present Lecture
Author Michael Downs will lecture on Hartford dentist Horace Wells who is widely credited with the discovery of anesthesia.
In recognition of the 175th anniversary of the discovery of anesthesia, Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation, in collaboration with Bushnell Park Foundation, will present the illustrated lecture “Lost in a Laughing-Gas World: The Life of Horace Wells in Fact and Fiction” on Sunday, October 6, 2019 at 2:00 pm.
Michael Downs, author of The Strange and True Tale of Horace Wells, Surgeon Dentist, will discuss the tragic life of Hartford dentist Horace Wells whose obsession with pain and its destruction threatened his family, his finances, and his sanity.
Moving through New England to Paris and back again, Downs will chronicle the saga and significance of Wells’ discovery of nitrous oxide as an anesthetic. The lecture, like his novel, will provide engaging access to this complex story which examines how Wells’ discovery led to scandal, financial ruin, and a madness that now looks like addiction.
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A professor at Towson University, Downs is the author of three books set in his hometown of Hartford including House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City, The Greatest Show: Stories, and The Strange and True Tale of Horace Wells published in 2018.
The lecture will take place at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center, 200 Main Street, Wethersfield. Admission is $15 (nonmembers) and $12 (members) and will include a copy of The Strange and True Tale of Horace Wells, Surgeon Dentist: A Novel.
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Members of Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation, Bushnell Park Foundation, Hartford Medical Society, Horace Wells Club, Hartford Dental Society, Connecticut State Dental Association, American Society of Dentists Anesthesiologists, American Dental Society of Anesthesia, and Wethersfield Historical Society qualify for the member admission rate.
Reservations are strongly encouraged and may be made online at www.cedarhillfoundation.org or www.bushnellpark.org. Or you may call Beverly Lucas at Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation at (860) 956-3311.
Funding for the lecture generously provided by Connecticut Humanities.
