Song:

“Wayfaring Stranger” (1858)

It’s a song I play on guitar and sing. It’s very beautiful, and it is one of the most highly recorded old Appalachian folk songs.

 

Book:

“Rats, Lice and History: A Chronicle of Disease, Plagues and Pestilence” (1935) by Hans Zinsser

It’s a picaresque account of how epidemics have shaped and affected humanity. It’s specifically about louse-borne typhus, caused by the microorganism known as Rickettsia.

 

Movie:

“The Godfather” (1972) dir. Francis Ford Coppola, “Dances with Wolves” (1990) dir. Kevin Costner

This is a tie between “The Godfather” — because it reminds me of home (kidding… well sort of) — and “Dances with Wolves” because I love the topic and the majestic and almost surreal empathetic account of the Native American indian’s plight.