Book Patch Adams

Patch Adams is an American doctor, clown, comedian, author and social activist who has spent his career proving that laughter and compassion belong at the heart of medicine. Born Hunter Doherty Adams, he was a pioneer of bringing humor into hospitals to help patients heal, and he helped establish the practice of therapeutic clowning. Soon after finishing medical school, he and friends began the communal experiment known as the Zanies, which ran from 1971 to 1984 and laid the groundwork for the Gesundheit! Institute, founded as a not-for-profit in 1989. Based on rural land in West Virginia, the institute promotes an alternative model of health care that does not rely on insurance, with plans for a free community hospital and a teaching ecovillage, and it runs courses through its School for Designing a Society. Each year Adams also leads volunteers from around the world on trips abroad, where they dress as clowns to bring joy to orphans, patients and others in need. His life story reached a global audience through the 1998 film Patch Adams, whose proceeds helped fund buildings at the institute. Adams brings joyful, provocative ideas about health, happiness and community.