Joseph Bentivegna

I am an ophthalmologist in my sixties who is happily married for thirty years to my wife Louise. We live in Fairfield, Connecticut. We have two daughters who have flown the coop and one granddaughter. My books - fiction and non-fiction - are based on my life experience. As you young man, I spent a year as a volunteer physician in Haiti working with the Missionaries of Charity, the order of Mother Teresa. I saw 100 patients a day. The horrors these poor but wonderful people suffered are recounted in my first book: The Neglected and Abused, A Physician's Year in Haiti. It has sold over 5,000 copies and is used to this day as a textbook for those interested in Third World health care.

I have run for US Congress and US Senate - unsuccessfully both times - but enjoyed the experience. My first novel, The Lords of Greenwich, tells of the political corruption in the gambling industry in Connecticut. My most recent novel Respect, published in 2018, delves into the politics of race and privilege and also draws from my experience during my campaigns.

My hobbies include computer programming, birding, poker, bridge and golf so my novels have various references and anecdotes relating to these activities. But overall, it is my experience as a physician and surgeon that colors my writing and is the main reason those who read my books find them fascinating.