A Romance with Heart
by Myrvin Ellestad, M.D.

Order your pre-release copy now!

Cedar Vista Press
Hard cover

Release date September 2006

Genuine people are not larger than life. It’s just that they fill up a life when it’s well-lived. The man this book calls Anders Erickssen is such a person. His story is filled with incidents, large and small, that welcome us. They bring us closer to him, and we come to know and to admire the person inside the story.

From his humble, small-town beginnings and boyhood during the Depression, Anders frankly shares his adventures and misadventures. His experiences do not set us apart from him, they draw us to him in their poignancy, humor, and humanness. The flavor of the locations and the eras Anders travels through are brought to life, from semi-rugged upstate California, to Berkeley, to a stint at Guantanamo Bay, where his integrity gets him into trouble instead of keeping him out of it.

We finally settle in Southern California, where the story gives a different perspective on the reality of doctors and wealth, and it reveals much of the evolution of modern heart medicine. It most definitely did not happen the way we might think.

Incident after real incident, event after recognizable event, we walk with Anders through his life. We see the world we all share through different, sometimes wide and innocent eyes. And we come to respect the amazing accomplishments made in the field of heart medicine by this eminently human man.

The story of Anders Erickssen, truly the story of the author, is encouraging, inspiring, and reassuring that a life can be lived with goodness and integrity, respecting all people and contributing to their betterment.

This is a book to be read when you feel like having a heartfelt conversation with a good friend.. Myrvin Ellestad has built a life worthy of respect and admiration, both in his professional career and in his personal endeavors. In addition to being in the forefront of heart-related medical developments, he has enjoyed membership in many prestigious medical organizations, won awards too numerous to list here, and served in top positions in hospitals and university faculties. An octogenarian as of this writing, he remains very active in his personal and professional life. Dr. Ellestad lives in Southern California with his wife and large family of grown children and grandchildren. The story of Anders Erickssen is patterned after his own.