Dick Ray behind the lens of his trusty, utterly non-automatic Nagel-Pupille camera. Author: Richard H. Ray
Publisher: Historic Saranac Lake
Year published: 1993; revised edition, 2005
What it covers: Richard H. Ray was a patient who stayed briefly at the Benson Cottage, then was accepted at Trudeau Sanatorium. He took photos from his bed, and the book combines them with his memories of his time spent curing. Because the book also covers his later transfer to the New York State sanatorium at Ray Brook, it is a rare close look at three curing facilities in his time, with photos of his visiting family, staff and fellow patients, and his own contemporary comments culled from letters home.
Ray first published the book himself in 1993, in an edition of 100 copies. After his death, Historic Saranac Lake undertook a revised edition, working with Ray's original prints, and the advantages of improved digital technology.
In the Forward to the book, Mary Hotalling wrote:
I love this Memoir for its direct view into the mind of a young man facing a confined future with entirely unreasonable optimism. Better yet, the young man had a camera. Those of us who have spent pleasant and fast fading hours studying the photos, intent on getting the photo reproduction just right, have found ourselves fascinated — transported back into an unfamiliar time, yet in a familiar place. The people in Dick's life have briefly become people in our lives, too.
See more at Dick Ray.
This book may be purchased at the Historic Saranac Lake Bookstore.
