Hell's Kitchen was the melting pot of Manhattan. Here Lucky Luciano ruled the streets, the local store doubled as a telephone message center and the shoeshine stand as a bookie joint. And here, from 1934 to 1968, Dr. Slocum and his wife, Belle, made their home and opened a practice that drew theater people, mobsters, boxers, and families, both Old World and New. Dr. Slocum's first patients were May, the upstairs madam, and her ladies of the evening. As he dispensed common sense and loving care, he came to know the neighborhood and his patients intimately. With the help of his wisecracking nurse, Peggy, he ministered to such eccentrics as Joey Silver, the ultimate protectionist; the Major, who had converted his apartment into a miniaturized replica of a World War II battlefield; and Mrs. Scaglione, who taught him an unforgettable lesson about friendship. Dr. Slocum's memoirs are a heartwarming account not just of patients who became friends but of a colorful, close-knit community in turbulent times.
