A long essay in The New Yorker about the life of a small-town druggist in southwestern Colorado is among the latest winners of a Sidney Award, named for philosopher Sidney Hook, which New York Times columnist David Brooks gives to essays that he deems to be the best of a year.
The first winner was Peter Hessler’s article, “Dr. Don: The life of a small-town druggist,” Don Colcord of Nucla, Colo., a local native who "serves that community medically, spiritually, financially and beyond," Brooks writes. "The article is a beautiful description of what it’s like to live in a small town, where everybody knows each other’s sins and virtues." He cites one resident's view: “I like to play chess. I moved to a small town and nobody played chess there, but one guy challenged me to checkers. I always thought it was kind of a simple game, but I accepted. And he beat me nine or 10 games in a row. That’s sort of like living in a small town. It’s a simple game, but it’s played at a higher level.” (Read more)
Hessler introduced his subject to readers this way: "Don Colcord has owned Nucla’s Apothecary Shoppe for more than thirty years. In the past, such stores played a key role in American rural health care, and this region had three more pharmacies, but all of them have closed. Some people drive eighty miles just to visit the Apothecary Shoppe. It consists of a few rows of grocery shelves, a gift-card rack, a Pepsi fountain, and a diabetes section, which is decorated with the mounted heads of two mule deer and an antelope. Next to the game heads is the pharmacist’s counter. Customers don’t line up at a discreet distance, the way city folk do; in Nucla they crowd the counter and talk loudly about health problems." (Read more)
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| New Yorker illustration by Ben Katchor |
Hessler introduced his subject to readers this way: "Don Colcord has owned Nucla’s Apothecary Shoppe for more than thirty years. In the past, such stores played a key role in American rural health care, and this region had three more pharmacies, but all of them have closed. Some people drive eighty miles just to visit the Apothecary Shoppe. It consists of a few rows of grocery shelves, a gift-card rack, a Pepsi fountain, and a diabetes section, which is decorated with the mounted heads of two mule deer and an antelope. Next to the game heads is the pharmacist’s counter. Customers don’t line up at a discreet distance, the way city folk do; in Nucla they crowd the counter and talk loudly about health problems." (Read more)
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