Celebrated flu expert and Fallon doctor to present ‘Historical Perspective on the Flu in Nevada’

Gary C. Ridenour, M.D of Fallon, will discuss “Pandemic: An Historical Perspective on the Flu in Nevada” based upon his research of the 1918 pandemic.

His book, “Pandemic” (2007), gives an historical overview of viral infections, the bubonic plague, 1918 pandemic and survival strategies for the avian flu.

The presentation is part of the monthly Frances Humphrey lecture series at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City. The program, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25, should be of interest to health care professionals, historians and concerned citizens. Regular admission fees apply. For more information, contact Deborah Stevenson at 775-687-4810 Ext. 237.

Ridenour is an interesting character. He was at Woodstock and the Kent State shootings. He attended medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico, and was one of the main characters in the movie “Bad Medicine,” written by a classmate. He ran his own clinic for the poor out of a Catholic Church, did his internship in Saskatchewan, and moved to St. Louis for his residency in Internal Medicine.

Ridenour said that after training, he ran an emergency room at St. Louis Hospital, where he saw a “murder a day, a rape a day, and two gunshots to the chest a day.” In 1975, he set up the first free-standing rape treatment center at City Hospital and was Citizen of the Year in 1980. Ridenour moved to Fallon in 1981. He still makes house calls. Many consider him to be a maverick, a renaissance doctor and certainly “the last of his kind.”

The Nevada State Museum actively engages people in understanding and celebrating Nevada's natural and cultural heritage. Exhibits highlight the state's history, geology, plants and animals, American Indian cultural heritage, the historic Carson City Mint, a replica walk-through mine and a ghost town. Current changing exhibits include “Rock Art Perspectives: Petroglyphs and Pictographs,” “Slot Machines: The Fey Collection” and “The Art of Nature: Images from the Wildlands of Nevada.”

Due to mandatory state budget restrictions, the museum is closed Sunday through Tuesday and open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Please enter through the Dema Guinn Concourse. Admission: $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, and free for members and children under 18. For information, call (775) 687-4810 or visit www.NevadaCulture.org.