Doctor, working writer and Grammy to Edin and Caleb. I live in St. Louis with my husband and best pal Bill.
Cathy Luh, MD
I was born in China in 1947. Both my parents were Shanghainese doctors. After the Chinese Revolution, our family rode the train to Hong Kong, sneaked off before the legal entry point and walked for a seeming eternity into the British Crown Colony. My little kid’s legs felt the steepness of the grassy hills. When I was eight, we came to America and settled in St. Louis.
In college, I leafleted, attended rallies and disrupted ROTC classes in anti-Vietnam War actions. I sat in the middle seat of a Ford Pinto from St. Louis to a protest march in DC. Several years later, I enrolled in medical school and became an internist. I took care of patients, taught residents and worked for Blue Cross.
These days, I like to scan the skies for birds, paint watercolors en plein air, and bat around tennis balls. Every so often, I need an opera fix. With COVID, I’ve taken to walking the neighborhood every day.
Ever since I learned English as a child, I’ve been reading voraciously and omnivorously. I began writing when I realized that I wanted to interact with the people and ideas I “met” in books, and by extension, to engage with the wider world. I wanted, still want, to share with others the rich connections that I’ve found overlapping continents, centuries, cultures.
Dr. Bookworm is the culmination of this concept. I call my blog entries “gonzo book reviews” because the essays are personal memoirs and explorations of how each book changed my life, shaped my understanding of life or inspired me personally in some way. Some recurring topics have to do with my Chinese heritage, husband Bill, being a doctor, being Grandma, emotional wellness, and what’s happening in the world.
Dr. Bookworm 