Song of Haiti: Dr. Larry and Gwen Mellon & Their Hospital at Des Chappelles

No one ever expected the youngest son of financier William Mellon to establish and manage a hospital in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. But that is exactly what William Larimer (Larry) Mellon Jr. did during the last 35 years of his life (he attended medical school in his 40s). In this double biography, Paris--who himself makes a surprising turn from Hollywood biography (Audrey Hepburn, Garbo, etc.)-- beautifully, if somewhat uncritically tells the story of Larry, his second wife, Gwen, and their hospital in Haiti. Taking a page from the Mellons' lifelong passion for music, Paris organizes the entire book, from its ""Overture"" to its ""Finale,"" around a musical theme. Drawing on extensive interviews with Gwen--who, now in her 80s, has been running the hospital since her husband's death in 1989--as well as on Larry's private journals and his correspondence with Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Paris crafts a moving and largely sympathetic portrait. He also traces the history of the vast array of community development projects the Mellons initiated, arguing that the couple dedicated their uncommon lives and fortune to Schweitzer's motto ""Help life where you find it."" Along the way he provides plenty of relevant photos and helpful background: a history of Haiti, the story of the Mellon dynasty and an assessment of voodoo--he calls it ""a largely positive force with no particular agenda and without the proselytizing (or televangelical abuses) of Christianity."" Inspirational and dramatic, this book fills in a long-forgotten gap in the history of both American philanthropy and compassionate humanity. (June)