Dominique said, "No patient should die here without medicine" and kept his commitment. Every year he not only visits the Sunderbans area but also contributes substantial amount of money from the royalties earned through sales of his books. The people of Sunderbans and the TB patients those who have availed of the medical treatment extended by SHIS, meet Mrs. and Mr. Dominique in get-together every year when they pay visit to SHIS.

Dominique says, The great Indian poet Tagore once wrote: 'Adversity is great but man is greater than adversity'. My years in India have taught me how true is this saying. I like to add to it an other proverb which I have learned in the slums of Calcutta researching for my previous book
'The City of Joy'. We should all meditate its meaning. It says: 'Everything that is not given is lost'. It is with great expectation that we are coming back to Basanti on February 23 to launch the Indian edition of my new book 'A Thousand Suns' which royalties will go to the underprivileged. My wife and I have been serving for all these years. For an author, it is an extraordinary experience to celebrate the birth of my book with the very people it will serve. I call it a mythical communion. 'A Thousand Suns' is about some of the exceptional people I have met during my life as a journalist, an historian, and a philanthropist.

The title comes from an Indian proverb I have discovered with my wife one day, written on a bus shelter in the South of India. It said: 'There are always a thousand suns beyond the clouds'.
This message corresponded exactly with his philosophy of life.

Here after is the text of presentation of 'A Thousand Suns' by the US Senior Editor of Warner Books publishing: ' A THOUSAND SUNS ' BY DOMINIQUE LAPIERRE

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Dear Sir,

I'm excited to send you an advance copy of 'A THOUSAND SUNS ' by Dominique Lapierre, which Warner Books will publish in March of this year. Lapierre, author of the mega-selling 'THE CITY OF JOY ', 'BEYOND LOVE ', 'O JERUSALEM ', 'IS PARIS BURNING? ', and a host of other titles, returns with another unforgettable work of nonfiction. Strictly speaking, this is a memoir of a journalist and an author, a man who has been privileged to witness and write about the events that shaped this Century, but 'A THOUSAND SUNS ' is more than that. It is a tribute to the strength of human character, a celebration of heroism and bravery, qualities, in this era of fashionable cynicism, we have forgotten we possess. In the corpus of facts and dates known as history, Lapierre finds a human heart, beating with passion, anger, and a fierce spirit of resistance. In the exploits of a Spanish bullfighter, the founding of the state of Israel, the ministry of Mother Teresa and lives of the inhabitants of a Calcutta slum - in people both celebrated and anonymous - he captures the essence of our humanity. Together we walk in the steps of Mahatma Gandhi, sneak aboard a highjacked ship with a twentieth century pirate, dodge tanks in Nazi occupied Paris, and return to the City of Joy that Lapierre made famous. By turns funny, tragic and stirring, 'A THOUSAND SUNS ' is also a personal odyssey, the story of a consummate adventurer who crossed the world in an old Rolls-Royce, and then embarked on a journey of a different sort - moving from detached journalist to active participant in the very struggles hechronicled. A humanitarian and a philanthropist, Lapierre and his wife provide sole support for a network of relief programs throughout India. In November 1998, this remarkable man will return to the Ganges Delta to dedicate another floating hospital that brings medical care to people who otherwise have access to none. I hope you will share our enthusiasm for this singular book. For those hungry for adventure and thirsting for inspiration, Lapierre counters chicken soup for soul with a magnificent feast for the spirit. Bon appetite!

Sincerely,

Jessica Papin

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