AAMC Reporter: January 2009

When Dreams Get Published

Jared Grantham, M.D., pauses and scratches his head. Suddenly he looks up and grabs a pen. An idea has just come to him. Grantham quickly scribbles it down, then looks over what he's just written. He smiles; his fantasy tale of a Kansas girl named Ashley Houchin is coming together.

By the time Grantham finishes the story, it is complete with gypsies, magic spells, evil cats, and hungry rabbits. "Ashley and the Mooncorn People," Grantham's first children's book, is ready for print.

Grantham, a nephrology professor at Kansas University Medical Center, always enjoyed telling his children adventure stories, but didn't put pen to paper until Ashley, his first granddaughter and book namesake, was born.

"I was so doggone busy with medicine when my children were young, I didn't know a lot of the details of their lives," he said. "When Ashley was born, I decided to really devote myself to this little person."

Grantham enjoys how writing juxtaposes with his research career.

"I really like the idea of creating something that's never been created before," he said. "Whereas with science, you're discovering what nature has already put in place."

His first book was followed by "Ashley and the Dollmaker," where the title character's adventures continue as she meets a magical 106-year-old woman, Iola, modeled after Grantham's mother. Both stories embrace what he calls an old-fashioned philosophy: that kindness and goodness always win out in the end.

Do the real Ashley and Grantham's other nine grandchildren share their grandfather's love for writing fanciful fiction? Perhaps it's too soon to tell, but he makes sure that they at least consider it.

"On trips with my grandchildren, I've have them write tales to read around the fire," he says "They've all had the experience of telling a story."

—By Elissa Fuchs