Athenaeum member Thomas Vander Salm will discuss his recently published novel, Maaijke.

Maaijke, a young Dutch woman, born in 1815 in Spakenburg, vividly imagines herself into other places and times, but when her concentration lapses, she is back home. On one of her travels, she falls in love with Peter, a U.S. Navy pilot and Vietnam veteran. After an intense but brief affair, her focus flags and Peter, unaware of her abilities and why she disappeared, mourns her absence. She appears more than once in this story of imagination that spans generations. Come to this salon to learn more!

After his early schooling was in Michigan, Thomas Vander Salm graduated from Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) as a chemical engineer. Switching career direction, he entered the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and after residency at the Massachussetts General Hospital in Boston, and two years in the Navy, he practiced and taught cardiac and thoracic surgery at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. There his writing was focused on surgical topics. His published works include four books, chapters in 12 other books, and over 100 scientific, peer-reviewed papers. It wasn’t until after retiring that he began to write Maaijke.

Please enter by the Athenaeum by the front door.
In the event of rain, the program will be held in the Athenaeum reading room. 

Tickets: $20/Free to Members

Salem Athenaeum participates in Card to Culture.