Season of Healing: A Memoir of American Indian Public Health

In 1970, Gene Gerber arrived at the San Carlos Apache Reservation as the only dentist for more than 6,000 Apaches. Over the decades that followed, his career would span every level of healthcare for American Indians and Alaska Natives, from remote reservation clinics to hospitals, area offices, urban Indian health centers, and national leadership. A Season of Healing is a firsthand account of a transformative era in American Indian and Alaska Native healthcare. Through stories of patients, colleagues, communities, and crises, Gerber traces the realities of public health practice in underserved settings shaped by geography, poverty, history, and culture. Part memoir and part public health history, the book offers an intimate look at the challenges and complexities of healthcare delivery in Native communities during decades of profound change. Along the way are stories of friendship, resilience, institutional struggle, and the people who made the journey meaningful. Written with honesty, humility, and deep respect for the communities he served, A Season of Healing preserves experiences from a rapidly disappearing chapter of American public health history.