{"product_id":"9781604733396","title":"Squint: My Journey with Leprosy","description":"\u003cp\u003eLying in a hospital bed, José P. Ramirez, Jr. (b. 1948) almost lost everything because of a misunderstood disease. When the health department doctor gave him the Handbook for Persons with Leprosy, Ramirez learned his fate. Such a diagnosis in 1968 meant exile and hospitalization in the only leprosarium in the continental United States—Carville, Louisiana, 750 miles from his home in Laredo, Texas. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSquint: My Journey with Leprosy\u003c\/i\u003e, Ramirez recalls being taken from his family in a hearse and thrown into a world filled with fear. He and his loved ones struggled against the stigma associated with the term \"leper\" and against beliefs that the disease was a punishment from God, that his illness was highly communicable, and that persons with Hansen's disease had to be banished from their communities. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis disease not only meant separation from the girlfriend who would later become his wife, but also a derailment of all life's goals. In his struggle Ramirez overcame barriers both real and imagined and eventually became an international advocate on behalf of persons with disabilities. In \u003ci\u003eSquint\u003c\/i\u003e, titled for the sliver of a window through which persons with leprosy in medieval times were allowed to view Mass but not participate, Ramirez tells a story of love and perseverance over incredible odds. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJosé P. Ramirez, Jr., is a social worker in Houston, Texas. He has written articles about Hansen's disease for the \u003ci\u003eHouston Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eStar Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eNational Association of Social Workers Newsletter\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University Press of Mississippi","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47161577996528,"sku":"9781604733396","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781604733396_p0.jpg?v=1763829108","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781604733396","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}