Scholarly but Written for the General Public

In her brief but accurate summary of “A Cry Unheard: New Insights into the Medical Consequences of Loneliness” (Media Mix, June 12), health writer Jane E. Allen did a disservice to author James J. Lynch, one of the founders of the holistic health movement.

Ms. Allen thought the book a textbook and therefore inaccessible to a general audience. Dr. Lynch and I plead guilty to publishing a book with textbook-like charts, graphs and footnotes. They’re necessary, we believe, to proving one’s case and quite helpful in securing endorsements from such medical luminaries as Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Larry Dossey. But the book is not only intended for general readers, but, from early response, seems to have hit a chord with them. Dr. Lynch and I feel a bit like Mozart when the commissioning king gave [his work] praise, but also said it contained a “few too many notes.”

--BRUCE L. BORTZ

publisher, Bancroft Press