In their time, the richest family in all of Europe: the Medici. Like you and me, they faced their share of problems, both medical and interpersonal. Unlike most of us, how they faced their issues altered the course of history. Thus, I was drawn to the Medici when Parkinson’s sidelined my surgical career. Like most surgeons, my “control freak” tendency had served me well in my previous career; I would apply it to the next as aspiring author. Define the issue. Create the right structure. Go to the laboratory: this time, the lab is Florence. Final item on the checklist: download Dan Brown’s Inferno. Boarded flight. Turned on first page. From that moment, structure disintegrated.

Finally arrived at hotel. But look! And a second take. Why is a Jewish Star of David resting atop the Christian Basilica de Santa Croce? Is this an over-read as a result of Robert Langdon’s symbology lecture?

After collapsing in obligatory deep sleep, I was awake in the wee hours. Midnight. Finally, time to regroup. But again, my agenda was pushed aside. Bizarre intrusive guests – all linked to Inferno. Symbology turbo-charged. Questions erupted; more secrets of history, hidden in full view. No, it can’t be the Seal of Solomon! It's the Star of David. How much more of our past is misunderstood? Effort to seek answers were repeatedly thwarted: why did they repeatedly bring out my Mississippi heritage and especially references to Nobel laureate William Faulkner? The rest is too complex for summary. Some may find it hard to believe. It is all true. Mostly!