Pandemic 1919 - COVID 19
Dating back to 1929 the six degrees of separation theory was first proposed by a Hungarian writer, Frigyes Karinthy. By 1967 a sociologist tested the theory and proved that an unknown person is connected to someone you know through six other people. The theory proves how small the world is. Then, there are experiences where the separation is even smaller, maybe one degree of separation. Recently it came to me that through one degree of separation I had known of a child who died in the 1918-1919 flu epidemic, the Spanish flu. Yes, this was a century ago. Reading Dr. Laurine Elkins Marlow’s dissertation on Gena Branscombe, the composer recounted the influenza outbreak and how it tragically affected her family. Their three year old daughter Betty died of the flu. Reading the description of the family’s illness with Gena caring for her husband and three daughters was heart-wrenching. Later I had the privilege of meeting Gena Tenney Phenix, ...