Stardust

Stardust

memoir and essays by an astronomer who became a psychiatrist

Jaime Smith

An astronomer turned psychiatrist, Jaime Smith traces his education back to his early studies in the humanities and a life-changing move to Argentina as a young researcher photographing faint blue stars. Returning with his family to the US for graduate studies and then on to British Columbia to teach university courses, Smith ultimately segued into medicine, beginning a decades long career as a psychiatrist at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic in Vancouver, BC. Drawing from a background in diverse fields of study, Smith’s memoir, Foxtrot, gets new life alongside a collection of essays that explore topics ranging from quantum mechanics and philosophy to literature, linguistics, and systems of belief. For Smith, it is the production, acquisition and playful interaction with knowledge that makes us human. Stardust reflects Smith’s never-ending engagement with that pursuit.

Editions:

ISBN: 9781989467305 (paperback). $19.95 CDN, $17.95 USD
Size: 6 x 9 inches
Pages: 274

Available via your local bookstore, Amazon.ca, and Chapters-Indigo

ISBN: 9781989467312 (ebook). $9.99 CDN, $7.99 USD. Available via Bookbaby or  Amazon Kindle

Book Cover Image

Reviews / Testimonials:

This is a thinking person’s book by a clever and thoughtful writer. He can understand anything that engages his interest and there is much that does. Flipping through the pages we find short essays on Nordic noir crime fiction, Atheism, Wagner’s operas, Confucius, Cannibalism, Slavery, Human rights and much more. Dip into the book anywhere and you will find food for thought. Is there anything he hasn’t read? Best of all, along with his professional expertise in physics, astronomy, medicine and psychiatry Jaime Smith knows how to write for the lay reader, using simple language, salted with wit and humour.
—Dr. George O. Mackie
Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria

Grounded both in a diary kept since the mid-1950s and by his over half century long relationship with his remarkable spouse Cathleen, Smith’s memoir traces the contours of an extraordinary and thoroughly idiosyncratic life that is guided by an enthusiasm for embracing new intellectual, physical and affective challenges. The eclectic essay collection that follows is not for the faint of mind, but is delectable reading for those who prize a relentless and uncompromising thoughtfulness, often with a Borgesian twist.
—Dr. Peggy Day
Professor of Religion and Culture, University of Winnipeg

Media related:

The Ormsby Review article can be read here.
ABC Bookworld article. Review from BC Bookworld by Josef Grubisic

ISBN: 9781989467305
274 Pages
CDN/USD

Jaime Smith, MD, FRCPC was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, and upon completing his undergraduate studies in Humanities at the University of Minnesota moved to Argentina to work as an astronomer at the national observatory, leaving behind the political framework of a country that he no longer supported.

Smith’s path would ultimately lead him to British Columbia, where he was a university teacher in Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy before changing careers, receiving his M.D. followed by four years of training in psychiatry at the University of British Columbia.

Smith was a participant in the fight to de-stigmatize homosexuality within the medical community and served on the front line of the AIDS epidemic in Vancouver, BC. A widower since 2011 he has three daughters, seven grandsons and four great-grandchildren.

Related products

by by Jeff Blackmore

Jaime Smith, MD, FRCPC was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, and upon completing his undergraduate studies in Humanities at the University of Minnesota moved to Argentina to work as an astronomer at the national observatory, leaving behind the political framework of a country that he no longer supported.

Smith’s path would ultimately lead him to British Columbia, where he was a university teacher in Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy before changing careers, receiving his M.D. followed by four years of training in psychiatry at the University of British Columbia.

Smith was a participant in the fight to de-stigmatize homosexuality within the medical community and served on the front line of the AIDS epidemic in Vancouver, BC. A widower since 2011 he has three daughters, seven grandsons and four great-grandchildren.