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COURIER LIFE, NOVEMBER 5-11, 2021 11
Dr. David Biro’s second
novel, And the Bridge
Is Love, was celebrated at
a book-signing event that
took place at the BookMark
Shoppe in Bay Ridge on Oct.
14th.
The store had a great
turnout with over 60 people
in attendance. The doctor
talked about growing up in
the neighborhood, then read
a chapter from the novel and
answered questions from
enthusiastic members of the
audience.
It was a busy day for Dr.
Biro, as earlier he made an
appearance on “Good Day
New York,” where he was
interviewed by Rosanna
Scotto.
The novel is about three
friends who meet every
week for twenty years, in a
leafy enclosure beneath the
Verrazano Bridge -- Gertie,
a feisty Norwegian divorcee
and former swimmer;
Maria, a family-obsessed
Italian American widow;
and Corinna, a book-loving
hash-smoking eccentric.
There, the women talk
about their lives as they
watch the ships on the narrows.
Gertie, approaching
her 80th birthday, decides
it’s time to stop watching
the ships pass by; she wants
to travel the world and have
her two best friends join
her. But while Gertie is busy
making plans, a series of
events unfold that threaten
to destroy their long friendship.
“The book’s theme is that
it’s never too late to seize the
moment,” says Dr. Biro. “No
matter how old you are or
where are in life, there’s always
time to do something
fulfilling.”
The inspiration for the
characters comes from
the many “vivacious and
strong-spirited women” in
Dr. Biro’s life. During the
interview with Rosanna
Scotto, he mentions his
mother, his Aunt Pearl, and
his cousin Catherine who
was a Holocaust survivor.
There have also been many
inspiring patients he has
treated -- one in particular
who “while having accumulated
so many losses over
time, still managed to smile
and make jokes,” he says.
Central to the novel is
the Verrazano Bridge itself,
which Dr. Biro says is
almost its own character in
the book. He grew up in Bay
Ridge and says the bridge
“was always such a huge
presence in the neighborhood.
You could walk down
so many streets and up
ahead see the massive steel
towers of the Verrazano in
the distance, framing the
horizon.”
The Bay Ridge neighborhood
was at the heart of the
doctor’s first novel, too - This
Magnificent Dappled Sea. “I
love Bay Ridge – I love its
variety, all the different ethnicities
and religions living
side by side – I keep wanting
to write about it and show
people what a great and vibrant
place it is.”
Dr. Biro is a graduate of
the University of Pennsylvania,
Columbia Medical
School, and Oxford University.
He teaches at SUNY
Downstate Medical Center,
and continues to practice
dermatology. In addition to
his two novels, he is the author
of One Hundred Days:
My Journey from Doctor to
Patient, and The Language
of Pain: Finding Words,
Compassion, and Relief. He
has also been published in
the New York Times, Slate,
The Philadelphia Inquirer,
and various medical journals.
Dr. Biro was named
one of New York’s “Top Doctors”
by New York Magazine.
Copies of his book may
be found at the BookMark
Shoppe, 8415 Third Avenue,
in Bay Ridge, on Amazon,
and at other big book stores.
Additional information
can be found at the website,
www.davidbiro.com.
BUS INES S , B ROOKLYN S T Y LE
Dr. David Biro publishes his second novel
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/www.davidbiro.com