SARANAC LAKE – Mary B. Hotaling will hold a book signing of her recently published book “A Rare Romance in Medicine: The Life and Legacy of Edward Livingston Trudeau” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20 at Saranac Village at Will Rogers.

Hotaling will speak about Dr. Trudeau, the process of collecting information and writing the book. If time allows, she will read from the book.

The new biography expands upon Dr. Trudeau’s autobiography, published post-humously in 1915. The doctor’s great great grandson, Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau, wrote the foreword. Dr. Andrea Cooper, former Francis B. Trudeau Chair in tuberculosis and related research at the Trudeau Institute, and Dr. Ian Orme, professor of microbiology, immunology, and pathology at Colorado State University, contributed the closing chapter. The final chapter sets Dr. Trudeau’s work in the context of the continuing study of the cellular immune response to tuberculosis.

The book is the fruit of years of research by Historic Saranac Lake’s former Executive Director and Architectural Historian, Hotaling.

“Mary has put a tremendous amount of time and effort into this project, and we are so proud of her,” said Historic Saranac Lake Executive Director Amy Catania. “This is the book that the public has been demanding. It is an important historical record of the man who defined Saranac Lake as a world-wide center for patient care and scientific research. We are thrilled to have this new book.”

The book resulted from a partnership between a number of regional organizations. Historic Saranac Lake led the fundraising effort. Trudeau Institute supported early planning.

The Saranac Lake Free Library provided research assistance and photographs. Adirondack Life designed the book and managed the printing. Caroline Welsh, Director Emerita of the Adirondack Museum, served as Project Manager, shepherding the book to publication. Generous gifts from the New York Newspaper Foundation, the Henry Uihlein II and Mildred A. Uihlein Foundation, and Finch Paper, LLC supported the book’s publication. Private donations and book subscriptions from more than 160 individuals also provided essential support for the project.

Hotaling has been a resident of the Adirondacks since 1977, when she began to learn about the history of Saranac Lake as a health resort for tuberculosis.

One of the founders of Historic Saranac Lake, she worked to create the museum in Dr. Trudeau’s Saranac Laboratory.

Appointed by Gov. Mario Cuomo, she served on the New York State Board for Historic Preservation from 1993 to 1999. In 1995, she received a master of science degree in historic preservation from the University of Vermont, and in 2004, the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Paul Smith’s College.

She has appeared in several TV programs about the Adirondacks, most recently in “The Forgotten Plague: Tuberculosis in America,” part of the PBS American Experience series.

This program is free and open to the public. Books will be available to purchase. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, call 518-891-7117.