• Mid-19th Century (second half): Gerald Stulc's Czech farming ancestors immigrate to Iowa, settling in Cedar Rapids.
• Turn of the 20th Century: Gerald Stulc's grandfather, a Czech minister, immigrates to America, falls in love with the country, and joins the Czech community in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He later marries an American woman from Walker, Iowa.
• Pre-1947: Gerald Stulc's father is born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, making him an American citizen.
• Circa 1930s-1940s: Gerald Stulc's father, while in business school in Vienna, is imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis because of his American citizenship. The universities are closed during this time (Anschluss and Hitler's takeover of Austria).
• Post-WWII Liberation: Gerald Stulc's father is liberated from the concentration camp and meets Emilie, Gerald's German-Czech mother.
• 1947: Gerald Stulc is born in Teplice, a town just north of Prague, Czechoslovakia.
• 1948: Gerald Stulc's family flees Czechoslovakia due to the looming communist takeover and settles in Iowa.
• Circa 1950: Gerald Stulc arrives in the United States, around three years old, and does not speak English until first or second grade. The family returns to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• 1950s (Grade School): Gerald Stulc is influenced by his father's love for history and his mother's desire to be a nurse, studying a German medical book with illustrations.
• 1950s (Third Grade): Gerald Stulc writes and illustrates a three-page novel about a turtle going to Mars.
• 1950s (Junior High - Senior High): Gerald Stulc is a "nerd" who spends weekends in the library studying medical history and World War One. He takes all available art courses.
• 1950s: Gerald Stulc takes a Chinese history course from a brilliant, liberal, homosexual man who was investigated by the McCarthy committee.
• Circa 1968: Gerald Stulc's Vietnam War draft lottery number is "two," but he is deferred for four years due to being in medical school.
• Late 1960s: Gerald Stulc attends Cornell College in Iowa, majoring in art and pre-med (biology). He also tours Europe, visiting art museums.
• Circa 1972: Gerald Stulc completes medical school at the University of Iowa.
• 1973: Gerald Stulc graduates from medical school

• 1973-1975: Gerald Stulc undertakes a two-year medical internship in Syracuse, New York, starting 18 IVs on his very first night on call.
• Post-Internship: Gerald Stulc works with Adrian Kantrowitz on heart surgery in Detroit for a year, conducting experiments and publishing papers.
• Following Heart Surgery: Gerald Stulc transfers to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. to complete a four-year surgical residency, where he meets his future wife, Diana Minassian.
• After Residency: Gerald Stulc moves to Loyola University in Chicago, working on a PhD in immunology (unfinished). He also completes a one-year fellowship in kidney transplantation.
• Following Transplantation Fellowship: Gerald Stulc moves to Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, for a two-year surgical oncology fellowship.
• Six to Seven Years Post-Fellowship: Gerald Stulc stays on as faculty at Roswell Park, moonlighting in emergency rooms due to his low academic salary ($35,000/year).
• During Roswell Park Tenure: Gerald Stulc joins the U.S. Navy Reserve as a flight surgeon and medical officer, serving for almost 16 years. He is assigned to Marine Corps units for combat drills and serves briefly on a ship docked in San Diego.
• Until 1991: Gerald Stulc is at Roswell Park and also serves as Chief of Surgery, General Surgery at the VA hospital in Buffalo.
• 1991: Gerald Stulc leaves Roswell Park and academic surgery, realizing he prefers direct patient care.
• Post-1991 - 2007: Gerald Stulc works in private practice in Kentucky, affiliated with the University of Louisville. During this time, he also transfers his reservist affiliation to Kentucky and joins the Marines in Evansville, Indiana.
• Mid-2000s: Gerald Stulc retires from the Navy with the rank of Captain (O-6).
• Circa 2007: Gerald Stulc semi-retires due to burnout.
• 2007-2008: Gerald Stulc and his wife try living in Maine for a year, but it doesn't work out.

• 2008-2013: Gerald Stulc and his wife move to Jackson, Mississippi, for his wife Dee's position at St. Dominic's Hospital. During this time, Gerald pursues an MFA in Creative Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, completing four semesters of online and in-person study. He begins writing "The Surgion's Mate" and "Celadon."
• January 2014: Gerald Stulc and his wife move to Saratoga Springs, New York, as his wife accepts a position at Saint Peter's Hospital to be closer to her family in Boston and his oldest son in New York City.
• 2015: Gerald Stulc begins teaching at the Academy for Lifelong Learning (A.L.L.) in Saratoga, starting with a course on "Plagues."
• Circa 2018: Gerald Stulc's debut novel, "The Surgion's Mate," is published.
• Circa 2020: An interim president at Empire State College is responsive to continuing collaboration with A.L.L., providing classrooms, subsidies, and offices.
• Circa 2022: A new administration at Empire State College "throws out" A.L.L. after 30 years, cutting all ties and removing their subsidies and offices, around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. A.L.L. becomes a standalone 501(c)(3) entity. Gerald Stulc becomes Chairman of the A.L.L. Board of Directors.
• Present (Post-COVID): A.L.L. is experiencing growth, new opportunities, and revitalization, despite losing 50% of its members during COVID. Gerald Stulc continues to teach various courses, including Chinese history and the "evolution of humanity." He is working on revisions for "Celadon" for self-publication on Amazon and two other non-fiction books: "The Red Badge" (history of military medicine) and a book on art and anatomy. He also plays classical guitar in the Albany Guitar Ensemble and has presented twice at the McMullen symposium at the Naval Academy on naval medical history, including scurvy.

Cast of Characters

• Gerald Stulc: The central figure, a retired trauma and cancer surgeon, U.S. Navy Reserve Flight Surgeon (Captain O-6), author, historian, teacher, artist, and musician. Born in Czechoslovakia, his family fled to the U.S. in his early childhood. He is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Academy for Lifelong Learning (A.L.L.) in Saratoga and President of the Saratoga Torch Club. He is described as a "renaissance man" with a deep love for teaching and learning.
• Dr. Diana "Dee" Minassian Stulc: Gerald Stulc's wife, also a physician. She accepted job offers that led their family to Jackson, Mississippi, and later Saratoga Springs, New York. She encouraged Gerald to pursue a degree in creative writing after his retirement from full-time surgery.
• Alexan Stulc: Gerald and Diana's oldest son, an attorney living in Manhattan. He is 40 years old.
• Evan Stulc: Gerald and Diana's youngest son, a former cinematographer in LA who is now pursuing a mechanical engineering career. He is 36 years old and is moving back to Saratoga from Sydney, Australia.
• Jaroslav "Jerry" Stulc (Gerald's Father): An American citizen born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was imprisoned in an Austrian concentration camp by the Nazis during WWII because of his citizenship. He loved history and influenced Gerald's early interest in the subject.
• Emilie Stulc (Gerald's Mother): German-Czech, she endured forced service in German civil defense during WWII. She always wanted to be a nurse and had a German medical book with illustrations that influenced young Gerald. She was known for her strong work ethic and love of music and learning.
• Gerald Stulc's Grandfather: A Czech minister who immigrated to America at the turn of the 20th century, settled in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and became a wonderful artist, doodling caricatures of his parishioners. He married an American woman and later returned to Czechoslovakia after WWI.
• Gerald Stulc's Grandmother: An American woman from Walker, Iowa, who married his grandfather. She lived in Czechoslovakia through WWII (witnessing Nazis) and the Communist takeover (seeing tanks in Prague in 1968). She died at 98.
• Ed Matayka: An Army Combat Medic deployed in Afghanistan. He survived an IED explosion on July 2, 2010, which resulted in severe injuries including TBI, skull and facial fractures, a stroke, lung contusions, spinal fractures, internal hemorrhage, and the amputation of both legs above the knee. His story is recounted as an example of being "blown up."
• Ryan: Ed Matayka's friend and driver, killed in the IED explosion on July 2, 2010. Ed Matayka's twin son is named Ryan David in his honor.
• David: The buddy who applied tourniquets to Ed Matayka's severed legs, saving his life. Ed Matayka's twin son is named Ryan David in his honor.
• Jeff Schenaman: Executive Director of the Academy for Lifelong Learning (A.L.L.) in Saratoga. He played a crucial role in rehabilitating A.L.L. after its separation from Empire State College.
• Vera Kasson: Assistant Director of the Academy for Lifelong Learning (A.L.L.) when Gerald Stulc first joined as a teacher in 2015. She is now retired.
• Cm Jeter Naslund: Chairperson of the Creative Writing program at Spalding University when Gerald Stulc obtained his MFA. Described as a "wonderful writer," she encouraged Gerald to write "The Surgion's Mate."
• Roxanna Brown: The subject of Gerald Stulc's non-fiction book "Celadon." She was a journalist who covered the Vietnam War, married a monk, was severely injured in a motorcycle accident, became prominent in Southeast Asian ceramics, and was later arrested by the FBI for looting artifacts, dying in jail from a perforated ulcer.
• John Woodall: A naval surgeon in 1630 who wrote "The Surgion's Mate," a book for naval surgeons, which inspired the title of Gerald Stulc's novel. He also suggested the preventative properties of lemon juice for scurvy in 1617.
• Admiral Nelson: British Admiral who wins the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 but dies on board his ship after being shot. A key figure in "The Surgion's Mate."
• Villeneuve: The French Admiral of the combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, who retreated from the fight, angering Napoleon. He is later found dead with multiple stab wounds, presumed assassinated on Napoleon's orders, forming a central "true story" element in "The Surgion's Mate."
• Adrian Kantrowitz: A heart surgeon in Detroit with whom Gerald Stulc worked for a year. Kantrowitz helped develop a mechanical artificial heart and was the second man in the world to transplant a human heart.
• Joe McCarthy: Senator known for his anti-communist investigations in the 1950s, who investigated Gerald Stulc's Chinese history professor.
• Carl von Clausewitz: A military theorist whose work on the Napoleonic Wars and "principles of warfare," including coining the term "fog of war," was the subject of a book by a military historian Gerald Stulc met at the Naval War College.
• Bill Walker: An individual present in the conversation with Gerald Stulc, who shares his own Vietnam War draft lottery and military reserve experience.
• Dominic Giordano: A Skidmore graduate working with Dan Forbush, involved in using AI tools (NotebookLM, ChatGPT) to generate content from Gerald Stulc's interviews.
• Dan Forbush: An interviewer who facilitates the conversations with Gerald Stulc and oversees the AI content generation process.
• Denise: An individual who calls Gerald Stulc during one of his interviews, regarding a meeting.

• Thomas Downey: Author of the poem "The Naval Surgeon" (1813).
• John Bell (1763-1820): Famed Scottish surgeon and anatomist, ardent supporter of naval medical reform, and a major influence in pushing through reforms in 1800.
• William Turnbull: Naval surgeon who served with James Lind and voiced similar opinions to Bell about the low regard for naval surgeons.
• Tobias Smollett (1721-1771): Author of "The Adventures of Roderick Random," a satirical novel that portrayed the incompetence of naval surgeons during the Battle of Cartagena.
• Henry V & Henry VIII: English monarchs who formally integrated surgeons into the navy.
• Admiral George Anson (1697-1762): Commodore who led a disastrous circumnavigation voyage in 1740-1744, suffering massive losses to scurvy. Later, as First Lord of the Admiralty, he instituted some reforms.
• James Lind (1716-1794): Scottish naval surgeon who conducted the first clinical trial in history in 1747, demonstrating the efficacy of citrus fruits against scurvy. His findings were slow to be adopted.
• James Cook: Explorer who, after his second voyage (1772-1775), praised malt and wort as antiscorbutics despite also using vitamin C-rich sauerkraut and lemons, contributing to delays in scurvy's conquest.
• Sir Gilbert Blane (1749-1834): Acclaimed Scottish physician, Physician to the Fleet (1779) and Commissioner of the Sick and Hurt Board (1795). Instrumental in advocating for and implementing medical reforms, including the mandated use of citrus juice in 1796.
• Thomas Trotter (1760-1832): Visionary Scottish naval physician and reformer, who championed medical reform and citrus fruits for scurvy prevention. He had conflicts with St. Vincent.
• Dr. John Harness (1754-1823): Successor to Gilbert Blane as a Commissioner on the Sick and Hurt Board, who claimed precedence for introducing lemon juice to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1793.
• John Jervis, 1st Earl of St. Vincent (1735-1823): First Lord of the Admiralty, a strong disciplinarian who ordered an inquiry into naval fraud and emphasized the commander's duty to care for the sick. He had conflicts with Trotter and Harness.
• Dr. Robert Robertson (1742-1823): Scottish surgeon who memorialized the Admiralty for reforms and published statistics on diseases, considering himself a principal agent in achieving medical reforms.
• Admiral Charles Middleton, Lord Barham (1723-1813): First Lord of the Admiralty in 1805, who directed the Sick and Hurt Board to submit recommendations leading to significant reforms in naval medical service.
• Dr. William Blair: Commissioner on the Sick and Hurt Board who fought with Gilbert Blane over medical issues.
• Dr. Andrew Baird: Admiral St. Vincent's personal physician, credited with bringing hygiene to the Channel Fleet.
• Joshua Ward: A pharmacist with no medical knowledge who hawked "Pill and Drop" medicines as a cure for all ills, including scurvy, with disastrous results for the Navy.
• Charles Bisset: Naval surgeon under Admiral Vernon, who endorsed Vernon's belief in grog as a scurvy therapeutic.
• David MacBride: Former naval surgeon who published a pamphlet in 1771 extolling the value of wort as an antiscorbutic, influencing Cook and the Admiralty.
• Horatio Nelson: Admiral who developed scurvy while posted to an American station in 1782, losing many teeth.
• Axel Holst and Theodor Frølich: Norwegian medical researcher and pediatrician who established an animal model in 1907 demonstrating the benefits of cabbage and lemon juice for scurvy, but their findings were largely ignored.
• Almroth Wright: Distinguished bacteriologist who believed scurvy was due to acid intoxication of the blood.
• Edward Atkinson: Physician with Scott's 1910 Antarctic expedition, who believed cold, darkness, and strenuous work caused scurvy.
• Sir William Osler: Distinguished Canadian physician who held similar views to Atkinson.
• Albert Szent-Györgyi: Hungarian scientist who isolated "hexuronic acid" (Vitamin C) in 1928, receiving the Nobel Prize for his work.
• Charles Glen King: Isolated vitamin C in his lab in 1932, concluding it was the same as hexuronic acid.
• Christopher Columbus: His second voyage to the New World in 1493 may have been severely affected by scurvy.
• Vasco de Gama: Lost 116 of 170 men to scurvy on his 1497 expedition to India.
• Ferdinand Magellan: Lost 208 of 230 men, primarily to scurvy, during the first circumnavigation of the world in 1520.
• Jacques Cartier: Explored the St. Lawrence River in 1536 and cured his scorbutic crew with eastern white cedar tea, learned from natives.
• Captain James Lancaster: Conducted a trial in 1601, demonstrating lemon juice's effectiveness against scurvy.
• Captain John Smith: Advised the use of lemon juice for scurvy in 1626.
• Marcel Ravidat: Eighteen-year-old who, with his dog Robot and three friends, discovered the Lascaux Cave system in September 1940.
• Leon Laval: Local historian contacted by Marcel Ravidat, who recognized the importance of the Lascaux Cave paintings.
• Abbé Henri Breuil: Noted French anthropologist and cave art expert who mapped and sketched the Lascaux Cave art. He controversially erased a phallus from "the Dead Man" image in his drawings.
• Antonio Pollaiuolo: A Renaissance artist who performed human dissections to enhance his artwork, marking an early confluence of art and anatomy.
• Lyle Massey: Art historian who coined the term "artistic anatomies" for anatomical illustrations during the Renaissance and Early Modern periods.
• Martin Kemp: Art historian who noted that anatomical representations in the 19th Century became more scientific and objective, but "lacked style and soul."
• Robert Hooke (1635-1703): Polymath and inventor of the compound microscope, who coined the term "cell" after observing cork under magnification.
• Dr. Frank Netter: A physician and accomplished medical illustrator known for his clear and concise anatomical drawings, collected in the "Atlas of Human Anatomy" (1989) and "The Ciba Collection of Medical Illustrations" (1983).
• Jan Stephen van Calcar: Artist for Vesalius's magnum opus on the human body.
• Charles Bell & Jean Marc Bourgery: Phenomenal medical artist-illustrators of the 19th Century.
• Duncan MacDougall: A Massachusetts physician who attempted to scientifically prove the soul's existence in 1907 by weighing dying patients.
• Charles Dawson: Amateur archaeologist who perpetrated the "Piltdown Man" hoax in 1912, "proving" a preconceived notion of a human-ape missing link.
• Pierre-Marcellin Boule: French paleontologist who reconstructed a Neanderthal skeleton in 1908, creating a biased, hunched-over image that contributed to negative stereotypes of Neanderthals.
• Andrew Wakefield: Author of a retracted 1998 Lancet article alleging a link between MMR vaccination and autism, which damaged the credibility of science and vaccines.
• Norman Rockwell: Famous illustrator who painted "Freedom from Want," an iconic image of a Thanksgiving dinner, which Gerald Stulc analyzes.
• Tom Lea: Life magazine war artist whose paintings, "The Price" and "The Two Thousand Yard Stare," became iconic representations of the toll of war.