One would be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard the phrase “not all heroes wear capes.”
Over the past year, that expression has taken a more somber meaning than its usual, ironic use in meme form. Essential workers such as frontline retailer employees that are keeping us fed and medical staff literally fighting the pandemic have become the champions most of us now truly admire, while the fictional ones have ironically been sidelined by COVID due to cinemas closing for the better part of 2020. The real superheroes now wear lab coats, scrubs, and whatever Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is available. For once, humanity is looking towards the nerds to save us, one of those being Dr. Anthony Fauci, the current Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States and a literal Mr. Wolf when it comes to immunology and pandemics.
Dr. Fauci’s visage is one we now constantly see via televised briefings, and like every hero, the good doctor has a good origin story. No, Fauci’s start in public service and heroism doesn’t involve radioactive spiders or space travel, and unlike Steve Rogers, the doc has always been from Brooklyn.
Dr. Fauci's more believable yet still admirable journey from a young boy running deliveries for his pharmacist father to becoming a top medical advisor for seven US presidents is the subject of an upcoming children’s book from Simon & Schuster. The kids' title, written by Kate Messner and illustrated by Alexandra Bye, Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Became America's Doctor, also aims to inform children about vaccines and includes tips from Fauci himself to budding future scientists.
The book is available for preorder now and begins shipping on June 29th.