The Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) welcomes local author and retired surgeon Dr. Allen Saxon to the store on Thursday, January 22 at 6:00 pm for a discussion featuring his new novel, Training in Charity, which captures what it meant to begin a life in medicine before computers and technology softened the edges—a time when skill was learned by doing and compassion was earned at the bedside. Dr. Saxon will be in-conversation with Steve Fiffer.

Since retiring as a general surgeon, Allen Saxon, MD, has had time to pursue two of his passions—creative writing and medical education. A graduate of Tulane Medical School, he has experienced the value of safety net hospitals to society first-hand, both to indigent populations and to those learning the art of medicine. He currently teaches at two medical schools: Northwestern University and Rosalind Franklin University. His novella, The Climber of Pointe du Hoc, was published in 2024. He lives in the Chicago area. 

Steve Fiffer is a New York Times best-selling author whose books include his memoir Three Quarters, Two Dimes, and a Nickel, Jimmie Lee and James, and The Moment. The winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he is a graduate of Yale and the University of Chicago Law School.