Before he became a member of the medical profession, Dr. David Dixon was a poet.
“I got my first poem published in 1992,” he said of the days preceding the beginning of his training to become a family physician.
Now retired from that field, Dixon’s love of writing has come full circle with the recent publishing of his first book of poetry which also is meshing with one of the Mount Airy resident’s longtime passions as a doctor: the Surry Medical Ministries clinic.
Dixon is donating every penny of proceeds from advance sales of the book — titled “The Scattering of Saints” — to the Rockford Street clinic that provides free health-care services to low-income uninsured patients. He is medical director of the all-volunteer facility, which the local doctor has been involved with since 2003, about 10 years after it first opened.
Surry Medical Ministries officials, including Dixon’s wife Nancy, who is president of its board of directors, are presently engaged in a $3.5 million fundraising campaign aimed at providing a larger facility to meet a growing demand for the clinic’s services.
The organization has been generating support from various sources, including state and local governmental funding, to make the project a reality, with the sales of Dr. Dixon’s book part of that equation.
“It was accepted for publication about two years ago,” he said of the collection of poems that took about three years to write. The book was put out by Hermit Feathers Press, a small independent publisher based in Clemmons which specializes in regional poetry of the Southeast.
The 109-page work explores a variety of subject matter from a life that also included time as a seminary student.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Dr. Dixon, 61, added during a book-release celebration at his home last Friday night which was attended by about 50 people.
This includes material derived from his experiences as a physician, along with observations about nature, religion and life in general.
“David Dixon whirls readers through languages of faith, illness, love, loss; lives of apostles, pets, poets and trees,” says a description of “The Scattering of Saints.”
“He’s seen a lot and is not afraid to get it down on the page.”
“A search for meaning is what it’s all about,” said the author, also a musician, who was born in Mount Airy but grew up in Peru, where his parents were missionaries. The new book is dedicated to them.
Its title, “The Scattering of Saints,” is a line from one of the poems.
Among the captivating names of the many it contains are “How to Care for a Dogwood,” “Never Like the Movie” and “Speed of Light.”
Friday night’s kickoff event featured readings by other writers, Bill Colvard, Angell Caudill, Jenny Bates, Steve Cushman and Elaine Neil Orr.
Book sale proceeds
Dr. Dixon said 300 advance copies of “The Scattering of Saints” have been made available for distribution by him, for which 100% of the sale proceeds will be used to benefit the free clinic.
The base cost per volume is $20.
“Many people are donating extra for the books,” Dixon explained regarding their desire to aid the Surry Medical Ministries mission beyond the $20 price.
Any contributions made above the book purchase are fully tax-deductible, according to Nancy Dixon.
Copies of “The Scattering of Saints” can be obtained from the clinic on Rockford Street, across from Northern Regional Hospital, or by reaching out to him on Facebook, Dixon said.
The option also exists for literary enthusiasts to order the poetry book on Amazon.com, but none of the proceeds from those sales will go toward the clinic.
Dixon additionally is hoping to make copies available at bookstores such as Pages in Mount Airy and others in Winston-Salem.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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