Lea Dacy - Hektoen International

Maria Callas—her inner voice revealed

March 19, 2021

Eelco Wijdicks Lea Dacy Rochester, Minnesota, United States Cover: Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas. In Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas, Paul Wink convincingly concludes—based on largely secondary sources—that Maria Callas was not only a wildly ambitious operator who was not known for an emollient manner, but a prime example of […]

Milwaukee’s unlikely public health advocate

February 18, 2021

Lea Dacy Rochester, MN, United States Upper left: The author’s mother, Rita Troiano, a year or so after the incident at the Sunflower Inn; Lower left: the author’s grandparents, Philip and Evelyn Troiano, ca. 1928, both from the author’s personal collection. Right: Helen Cromwell at the Sunflower Inn, Feral House Publishing, used with permission. […]

The finality in their voices II: physiology-defying violent opera death

January 13, 2021

Lea C. Dacy Eelco F. M. Wijdicks Rochester, Minnesota, United States The title character in Werther bleeding profusely from a self-inflicted gunshot wound but still able to sing an extended aria, used with permission from Alamy. In a previous article, we reviewed the plausibility of opera deaths in wasting diseases such as that of […]

The interrupted concerto: Jacqueline du Pré and MS

January 30, 2017

Lea C. Dacy Moses Rodriguez Rochester, Minnesota, United States Enhanced portrait of cellist by www.AB-Photography.us. Used with permission of subject and photographer. Although promoted as a “comeback,” it was almost her last public performance. In February 1973, the late Jacqueline du Pré performed the Elgar Cello Concerto in London with the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted […]

“Heard it through the grapevine”: The black barbershop as a source of health information

January 30, 2017

Joyce Balls-Berry Lea C. Dacy Rochester, Minnesota, USA James Balls St. Louis, Missouri, USA The black barbershop has been a crucial gathering place in the history of the Civil Rights movement to the present day, when Barack Obama’s campaign itineraries included barbershop visits. Lesser known is the role of the black barbershop as […]